Polish gay couple Jakub Kwiecinski and Dawid Mycek hit the headlines last year when a home-made video of them lipsynching the Roxette song Some other Summer went viral after the group included it on the their fan website.
They went on to make a similar video lipsynching to Niebiesko-zielone, a track from the Polish Gay Iconic singer Beata Kozidrak, but then the threats began. The pair suffered personal threats and right-wing groups in Poland called for Beata’s concerts to be boycotted and all because of the video.
Not deterred by the threats, the couple decided they were going to get married. This is not possible in Poland so they chose the Portuguese island of Madeira to tie the knot.
The local register office on the island initially rejected their request but after hearing about the homophobia the couple had suffered in Poland change their decision.
David said: “If we couldn’t get married in our country, we wanted to choose a place that is close to our hearts.
There are countries where it is easier to get marriage permission, but we chose Madeira because we fell in love with the Island a few years ago, and since then we visit it every year.”
Their first application was rejected due to lack of paperwork, because Polish authorities make it difficult for homosexual couples to get married abroad and are reluctant to release the necessary documents.
Portuguese law, however, allows renouncement from the requirements of the law in exceptional circumstances.
Jacob said: “We read about this opportunity and decided to appeal. In a letter we told our story and described the scale of hate and threats we had suffered and passed on news stories about us from the Polish and foreign press.
After a few weeks of waiting, we got the news that they had changed their decision and we receive permission to get married without the missing documents.
It is ironic that our dream ceremony on Madeira, which is planned for this summer, we will owe to the actions of the people who hate us and have persecuted us.”
Here is the boys latest video:
