The Rainbow Madonna is an adaptation of the icon of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, with the halos colored in rainbow colors of the LGBT movement. This modification of the painting, created by a civil rights activist Elżbieta Podleśna, is controversial in predominantly Roman Catholic Poland where the original icon is an object of veneration.LGBT Virgin Mary triggers Polish activist's detention, BBC, 14 May 2019Woman arrested in Poland over posters of Virgin Mary with rainbow halo, Christian Davies, Guardian, 6 May 2019Poland: Furor over 'rainbow madonna' LGBT activist arrest, Deutsche Welle, Monika Sieradzka, 10 May 2019Transitions Online_Society: Foreign Ideology: Poland Populists Target LGBT Rights – 26 June
Following the events of 2019, the US Episcopal Church asked for permission to sell T-shirts bearing the Rainbow Madonna with proceeds allocated to the Polish transgender community.The American Episcopal Church sells T-shirts with the Holy Mother of God, Queer.pl, 19 June 2019
The Rainbow Madonna affair attracted significant attention in the Polish news cycle. A poll conducted by KANTAR concluded that the majority of Poles who identify themselves as religious are not offended by the rainbow Madonna, based on a representative sample of 1,006 Poles. Former prime minister Donald Tusk pointed out that there is already a similar Madonna's painting with a rainbow in the background by Hans Memling in St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk.
References