Lech Walesa, the former leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement, has made waves by suggesting gay members of parliament should sit at the back of the parliamentary chamber or even “behind a wall.”



Speaking to Poland’s TVN24 broadcaster, Walesa, a staunch Roman Catholic, said gay lawmakers should accept their minority status and “adapt themselves to smaller things.”



Walesa’s comments follow recent debates in the Polish parliament on legalizing civil partnerships for gay and heterosexual couples.



The ruling Civic Platform party of Prime Minister Donald Tusk has yet to come to a unified stance on civil partnership.



Walesa, an electrician and trade-union activist whose work led to the collapse of communism in Poland, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and served as Poland’s first post-communist president.



Based on reporting by AP and thenews.pl