Polish Court Orders Kaja Godek to Apologise to LGBT Activist Bart Staszewski

Warsaw’s Regional Court ordered Polish conservative activist Kaja Godek to apologise to LGBT activist Bart Staszewski on October 19, 2026. According to Onet, the court heard his civil claim for the protection of personal rights over a statement Godek made at the Equality March in Lublin in 2021.

The confrontation took place on October 23, 2021, in Lublin, eastern Poland. Godek, an anti-abortion campaigner representing the Life and Family Foundation, refused to speak to Staszewski, associating him with the sexual abuse of children. Wirtualna Polska reported at the time on the encounter, which was recorded on video. Staszewski described her words as an unfounded accusation.

In Staszewski’s account, he considered the statement a violation of his dignity, good name and reputation. Judge Agnieszka Derejczyk heard the personal rights case, numbered IV C 44/25. The claimant said the judgment was announced at a remote hearing that Godek did not attend.

According to Staszewski’s description of the oral reasons, the judge said people could not make accusations and demand that those accused justify themselves. The activist welcomed the ruling and emphasised the responsibility of participants in public debate for their words. This account of the court’s reasoning comes from the claimant.

Godek’s position was previously reported by Onet in September 2022, during separate private criminal proceedings in Lublin arising from the same confrontation. She then described the proceedings as revenge for her Stop LGBT initiative and said she had offered a settlement. Those comments preceded the present civil judgment.

Published information about the October 19 ruling says the apology must be delivered to Staszewski in person or by letter. The first-instance judgment is not final, and both parties may appeal.

Cover: archive photograph of Bart Staszewski, PullBear / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP.