From a parody of marriage to homofamily — on the evolution of the image of gay and lesbian families in the Polish press as seen in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily
The aim of the article is to examine changes that have taken place in the perception of same-sex relationships and adoption of children by same-sex couples in the daily press over the last 10 years since January 2004. Writing about “gay and lesbian families,” the author takes into account various forms of same-sex relationships, from marriage to civil union, as well as the so-called “families of choice,” in which same-sex parents raise at least one child.
The image of such relationships is based on a linguistic analysis of articles published in the Gazeta Wyborcza daily between January 2004 when there was a discussion in the media about Poland’s accession to the European Union and social changes associated with it and December 2013 when successive states legalised same-sex marriage. The author of the article examines the lexis used to describe homosexuals, attempts to clarify concepts by definition attributed to heterosexuals as well as ways of notating them e.g. in inverted commas, redefinitions and neologisms. In addition, he points to specific linguistic means and potential persuasion strategies, painting a linguistic portrait of homosexual families.