Le Madame
Le Madame was a club with an art gallery in the Polish capital, Warsaw , which existed until March 31, 2006. Le Madame was founded by Connect and Krystian Legierski in autumn 2003 . The club was located on Freta Street with the entrance to Koźla Street No. 12 in the Old Town . The name, derived from French , had an intentionally interchanged article ( The Woman ).
Right from the start, the bar was associated with the Left Party, the Green Party in 2004 and, above all, with the advocates of gay rights and the gay scene itself. Concerts, exhibitions and theater performances took place in Le Madame (around 60 theater troupes performed until March 2006). The activities in the club and the club itself were heavily criticized by the national-conservative city administration.
The club's lease was signed with a state-owned company called Eureka , which, however, lost ownership of the building to the city of Warsaw by a court ruling in March 2005. Only in January 2006 did the city demand rent from the operators, a much higher sum than that which is customary for the location and the surrounding area. Debt enforcement proceedings have opened.
The club became known to the general public in March 2006 when the proceedings were concluded with an enforcement order and the bailiff Jacek Bogiel contacted the club managers. For a few days, the club's regulars, sympathizers, some left and center politicians and artists and even the actor John Malkovich, who is currently in Warsaw, protested . On March 31, 2006, the bailiff appeared, accompanied by armed police, and the place was evacuated and sealed. According to the club manager and sympathizer of the club, the eviction had nothing to do with the (relatively low) debt, but was only motivated politically and homophobically . These allegations are denied by the city administration.