Religion and homosexuality in the public domain: Polish debates about reparative therapy

Abstract

In Poland, reparative therapy (i.e. sexual reorientation) evolved as a political project at the beginning of the 2000s. It occupied an almost hegemonic discursive position, dominant in both the conservative and the liberal Catholic press, and spreading its influence onto secular media outlets. This paper focuses on the press coverage of the reparative approach’s rise and fall, offering an analysis inspired by the discourse theory of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Between 2002 and 2003, the configuration of discursive forces enabled a discursive formation composed of various subject positions that drew on available symbolic resources (Christian ‘care’ for homosexual people, family values, national values), promoting the idea of ‘treating’ homosexuality. Discourses about reparative therapy also became part of political struggles important for Polish democracy as a whole and debates such as those about membership in the European Union. This vitalized the articulation of the LGBT community and their counter positions, which were framed in terms of difference or similarity to religion. Subsequent antagonistic struggles have disrupted the hegemony of reparative therapy supporters. Although the liberal press, both secular and Catholic, now distance themselves from reparative therapy, the antagonism between the LGBT community and religion still dominates the discursive field.