Tomasz Raczek and Marcin Szczygielski met in 1994, shortly after the 20-year-old writer had broken up with his partner at the time. In Super Express, he spoke about his first meeting with the man of his dreams, with whom he has been in a relationship for 30 years. “There came a moment when I reached an agreement with my friend at the time and told him that maybe I would go on a date with someone. But with someone older than me, someone who already had his head in order. My friend thought about it and said that if so, I should come to his place for dinner tomorrow,” Szczygielski recounted. Shortly afterwards, the couple spent New Year’s Eve together, which they sealed with their first kiss. Although the relationship between Tomasz Raczek and Marcin Szczygielski developed at a surprisingly fast pace, it has lasted for 30 years.
Tomasz Raczek on coming out. He says what pushed him to a personal confession
In a conversation with Mariusz Szczygieł in the program “Rozmowy (nie)wygodne”, Tomasz Raczek talked about the circumstances in which he came out and what pushed him to publicly admit that he was gay. Although the film critic did not feel the need to officially talk about his orientation for many years, his opinion was changed by Lech Kaczyński’s decision to ban Equality Parades in Warsaw in 2004 and 2005. Although Raczek had not attended such events before, this time he and his partner decided to take part.
Later, they decided to publish literature supporting LGBT. It was in the introduction to Marcin Szczygielski’s first book entitled “Berek” that the film critic included a personal confession. “When he wrote it, he came to me and asked: ‘would you write the introduction?’ I said: ‘of course I will’. And I started writing, so pleased, delighted that finally something constructive, good would come out of it. I liked this book (…) and in this euphoria at the end I wrote that I was filled with happiness that this book was written by someone who has been my partner for many years and I am proud of it. So this last sentence turned out to be our coming out. Our joint coming out, by the way. And I gave it to Marcin without a word, I was curious how he would react. He read it and said: ‘are you sure about it?’ I said: ‘yes, why not?'” – explained Tomasz Raczek in an interview with Mariusz Szczygieł.
The film critic also mentioned how important it is in a person’s life to have the courage to talk about important topics. “Why do I think it’s worth it (to come out)? It gives new life. Since then, I’ve been talking about uncomfortable topics without fear, with the pleasure of being myself and such a willingness to share it with others, feeling that this is who I am and that I can tell various interesting things. I can also tell people not to be afraid, because fear is the worst,” concluded Tomasz Raczek.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
