Poland is known to be one of the worst places in Europe to be LGBT+. Same-sex marriage and adoption are banned, and transgender people are not legally recognised.
However, in the small rural village of Bobrowniki, nearly every resident has voted to elect an openly gay man as mayor.
700 out of the 800-strong population voted for Łukasz Włodarczyk to serve as their ‘Sołtys’, which translates to 'head of the village'. Just one person voted for his opponent and the remainder either didn't vote or were ineligible.
Włodarczyk says locals are aware that he is married to a man, but do not mind.
Although Włodarczyk’s marriage is not recognised in Poland, the couple flew to Scotland to be married.
In 2011, then Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk announced plans to introduce a civil partnership law, but the legislation never passed due to opposition in parliament.
Despite Poland’s reputation for homophobia, Włodarczyk is not the only gay elected official. In 2011, Robert Biedron made history by becoming the first openly gay parliamentarian. In 2014, Biedron was elected as the Mayor of Slupsk, a city near the Baltic sea.
And in 2013, Anna Grodzka became the first openly transgender MP in Poland, and Europe.
Włodarczyk is set to appear in a new show on Polish Network TVN24 to discuss his life as an openly gay politician.
And, look. It's completely unrelated, but it also appears he's done an entire photoshoot with his cat, and you can view the entire gallery here.
