MP Robert Wegrzyn regrets joke; photo - PAP

Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski has said that the MP from his ruling Civic Platform party who joked that he would “like to watch lesbians” should be punished with at least “30 push-ups”.

MP Robert Wegrzyn has been forced to make an apology following remarks he made on television about gay rights.

During an interview with the TVN 24 news station the MP was asked what he thought about the question of civil partnerships for homosexuals - which are illegal in Poland - he responded:

"We can forget about gay men, but I would gladly watch lesbians."

The MP went on to say that “man is constructed in such a way that he should live in partnerships that are in harmony with nature.”

Pondering those that lived outside his definition, he surmised, “It's their problem, but they shouldn't flaunt it.”

However, following protests from women's groups and more liberal politicians, the MP was compelled to eat his words: “I realize that the joke might have sounded sexist but it wasn’t my intention to offend anyone,” he said.

“I apologize,” he affirmed, but insisted that his statements had been cited out of context.

Tomasz Tomczykiewicz, the head of the centre-right Civic Platform's parliamentary club, added that Wegrzyn’s remarks were “stupid” and “irresponsible” and that the MP will be punished.

Rap on the knuckles

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Sikorski has suggested, tongue in cheek, that Wegrzyn's penalty should involve “a rap on the hands with a ruler and 30 press ups”.

He cited banter between himself, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko and gay German foreign minister Guido Westerhelle during a meeting in Minsk last year in which the Belarusian leader spoke in 'a similar tone' to MP Wegrzyn.

Sikorski mused that this should be an edifying model for members of his party.

But Sikorski said that the press has double standards on such issues.

“On the one hand, you journalists complain that politicians are stiff, boring and that they use slogans. From the other side, if someone allows himself to make, let us say, a dubious joke, then you crucify them.”

Sikorski himself got into hot water in November 2008 in the wake of Barack Obama's election. It was claimed that the Foreign Minister had told a quip about the American president's Polish roots, namely that Obama's grandfather had eaten a Polish missionary.

The news did not go down well over the other side of the Atlantic.

The Civic Platform MP will probably have to pay up to 1,000 zloty (255 euro) for his wisecracks. Tomczykiewicz did not rule out that Wegrzyn will be removed from the party’s electoral rolls. (nh/pg)