Karol Nawrocki – criticizing Rafał Trzaskowski – during a meeting with voters, threw the cover of a book supposedly “for children” into a shredder, citing it as an example of “indoctrination” and “calling for gender change”. It's about a book that was in the bookstore of the Museum of Modern Art. But the book is available in many bookstores and is not intended for children. We explain.
Law and Justice candidate Karol Nawrocki met on January 25 with the inhabitants of Oława in Lower Silesia. He spoke, among others: about the threat of leftist ideology. “Ladies and gentlemen, the specter of the word 'i' haunts our social and political life, our everyday life, in our homes, on our streets. Ideology. The liberal-left radical ideology that affects Polish farmers and Polish foresters, unfortunately also affects the Polish education,'' said Nawrocki. Later he said: 'In Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski built (…) a museum that, well, does not meet the artistic forms to which we're used to it. He admitted that “there are things on which we should look for compromises in the Polish state, such as “the issue of the safety of all of us.”
Then he declared: “We should be in dialogue. But there is no dialogue and there is no consent, there is a clear stop when our children are indoctrinated. We must all defend our children. And there is no compromise here.” Returning to the topic of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, said: “In this museum, ladies and gentlemen, in this museum for our children and our Polish youth there was a book, a comic book, the cover of which I will show you” – at this point Nawrocki held out from his jacket pocket a piece of paper with the cover of the book “Gender Queer. Autobiography” printed on it. He showed it to the audience, continuing: “A clear call for gender change. Obscene, brutal images that can be found in the Rafał Trzaskowski museum. Indoctrination and ideology violating the sensitivity, safety and comfort of childhood of our children, our grandchildren, young people. There are two genders – and in Poland, and all over the world, and such indoctrination and such propaganda, do you know where it should be located?” – after these words, he put the paper into the shredder.
Those present in the hall began to applaud, and Nawrocki continued, turning to Rafał Trzaskowski: “Mr. Deputy Donald Tusk, I am asking a public question. How many genders are there in Poland and why can your museum offer such content that violates the safety and comfort of our children's childhood? “.
The recording of this fragment of Nawrocki's meeting with voters quickly found its way to social media. He published them, among others, Paweł Głosernaker, chief of staff in Karol Nawrocki's election campaign. “During the meeting in Oława, Karol Nawrocki destroyed the cover of an obscene and vulgar children's comic book, which could be bought in the R. Trzaskowski museum – the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. We are putting a barrier to gender ideology, we will protect children!” – wrote (original spelling of all posts).
The topic of the book, which was in the MSN bookstore, was also featured in weekend TV journalistic programs. Opposition politicians repeated the message about “pornographic comics for children” and the indoctrination of children in the “Trzaskowski museum”. However, the mentioned book is not intended for the youngest, and it has been available in the largest bookstores for four years.
PiS MPs record a video, the topic is picked up by Telewizja Republika
It's about the book “Gender queer. Autobiography” by Maia Kobabe. This graphic novel tells the story of discovering one's non-binary and asexuality. “Gender queer. Autobiography” was originally published in 2019, and the Polish edition (translated by Hubert Brychczyński) was published in 2021 by the publishing house Central.
The book was available in the bookstore of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw – which caused a wave of criticism from opposition politicians; the museum was accused of “depravity of children”. This position was discussed by, among others: Sebastian Kaleta, Sebastian Łukaszewicz and Mateusz Kurzejewski from Law and Justice. On the recording published On January 22, they reported on their visit to MSN on the X website. “This is our museum in Warsaw for PLN 700 million, which Trzaskowski built to accommodate even his ego,” Kaleta said. PiS politicians showed several books they found in the museum's bookstore, including “Gender Queer”. “Any comics here for kids?” – Kaleta asked when his party colleague reached for the book and then said that the book was about changing gender. “LGBT library for 700 million” – we read in Kaleta's entry. “We went to see what's going on at the Trzaskowski Museum. It's empty, but there is an LGBT bookstore there. You can see what is the priority. You can buy your child a comic book about how to 'change' your gender,” said the MP.
The topic of the book was quickly picked up by Telewizja Republika. One of the reporters showed “Gender queer” in his material. “In a bookstore, in the children's and youth section, among normal books you can also come across books that vulgarly promote LGBT ideology,” he said. He stated that the form of the comic book suggests that the target group for this item are children. ''And all this is aimed at children and young people, so we are dealing with the promotion of gender change among the youngest,'' he said.
This message was spread on social media, both by politicians and anonymous Internet users. “The art of s****af**** in an educational book for children at the Museum of Modern Art under Rafał Trzaskowski. Has society yet come to terms with this vision?!” – he wrote January 23 on X one of the users. “Mr. @trzaskowski_ – have you already fired the management of MSN for distributing books that have nothing to do with the museum's mission, but with the crazy ideology that you support? That's what the 700 million for MSN were for, to brainwash children by promoting gender change?” – succeeded MP Kaleta's case again. Right-wing news portals wrote about the “disgusting”, “obscene” and “shocking” comic book and its alleged intended use for children.
MSN corrects: “in the recommended books for adults section”
The Museum of Modern Art responded to the allegations of alleged depravity of children. IN statement denied: “Referring to the material published by TV Republika on January 22, 2025, we emphasize that it is untrue that the book Gender Queer was in the children's section of the museum's bookstore. It was in the section of books recommended for adults.'' MSN reported, that the book is no longer available in the museum's bookstore, because the only copy available at that time was “bought by a journalist from TV Republika”.
“The MSN bookstore contains hundreds of books about art, art history, philosophy, contemporary culture, including identity discussions and popular culture, philosophy, sociology, etc. This title was one of them,” the museum explained. It also wrote: “This book is available in wide distribution in renowned bookstores throughout Poland.”
Publisher: for recipients aged 16+. Bookstores: not among children's books
Publisher of the Polish edition of Maja Kobabe's book “Gender queer. Autobiography” – publishing house Central – the suggested age of the recipient of this item is 16+. In the description of the item, which was released on the Polish market in 2021, he quoted the then review of the Stop Bzdurom collective (the collective no longer exists): “Until now, there has simply not been such an accessible, modern and inclusive title in Polish about growing up as a trans person. all aspects, even the most difficult ones, from trans to trans.
Born in 1991, Maia Kobabe is an American cartoonist. She received her MFA in Comics from California College of the Arts. Her graphic works cover topics “identity, sexuality, anti-fascism, fairy tales and homesickness.” She is a non-binary person, her first full-length book “Gender queer. Autobiography” sparked huge discussions in the USA; it has been banned in some school libraries, including: in Alaska.
Kobabe addressed this wave of criticism and accusations of depravity in an essay published in 2023 on the website KDLG public radio in Alaska County, writing, among other things: “Of course, I was already aware that queer, trans and non-binary narratives often receive backlash. In 2019, when the book was released, I prepared myself for negative comments on the Internet, if not a full wave of internet hate. But that didn't happen. Instead, 'Gender Queer' was met with a wave of internet love. (…) People told me they relate to 'Gender Queer' more than any other book they've ever read they were reading. They told me that it made them feel less alone. They told me that they shared the book with a parent, partner or friend and it opened up conversations they had never been able to have before. texts about this cartoonist use gender-neutral pronouns).
Sociologist Kinga Dunin, writing in 2021 about “Gender queer” on the website “Krytyka Polityczna”emphasized: “Non-binary people feel very bad (you can call it dysphoria) in a world rigidly divided into two genders. I wrote 'very bad' because I think there may be quite a lot of people who feel a little bad or bad. In anyway, the boundaries are fluid here. How bad do you have to feel to start wondering about your gender identity and doubting what we've been told since childhood that we don't want to be? identify with neither of the two binary genders or identify (in different ways) with both. Therefore, gender correction or changing their place in the binary system is not an option for them, and this is not easy at all.
In a review on the website lubimyczytać.pl (“Gender queer” was nominated there in the readers' plebiscite in 2021) it was stated: “Although initially Gender Queer was only intended to help Maja's family understand what it means to be a non-binary and asexual person, it eventually became not only a personal memoir, but also a useful and moving guide that brings activists, friends and people around the world closer to the issue of gender identity: what it is and how to deal with it. to think about it.”
The comic book “Gender queer. Autobiography”, published four years ago, is actually available in many bookstores in Poland. We checked popular online bookstores to see what category they placed this item in.
For example, on the store's website Empik this book can be found in the offer of “comics for adults”. In the bookstore Vivelo.pl it was also included in “adult comics”. On the website PWN it is presented as “social and moral literature”, while in Znak Bookstore – as “moral literature”. In turn on the page taniaksiazka.pl the comic can be found in the “comics for teenagers” tab. Bookstore Gildia.pl offers this item as a “comic book”. Bookstore Bonito.pl qualifies it in the category of “scientific literature, sociology”. In none of the online bookstores analyzed, Maja Kobabe's book is marked as a children's book.
Main photo source: TVN24