Mariah Carey and James Corden sent the internet ablaze this holiday season with their “Carpool Karaoke” take on “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” with star turns from singers including Adele, Lady Gaga and Nick Jonas.
Taking a page from Carey and Corden, two Polish gay couples piled into a car to put their own spin on the Christmas classic ― with the aim of sending an inclusive message to their home country.
Two of the men, Jakub Kwiecinski and his partner, David, shot to viral fame in August after they repurposed Roxette’s “Some Other Summer” as a coming out anthem on YouTube. Since then, they’ve produced other music videos, including an LGBTQ-positive rendition of RedOne’s hit, “Don’t You Need Somebody.”
This time around, the couple invited their blogger pals, Piotr and Pawel, to join them for the diva-licious Christmas ride. They said their goal was to send a festive message of hope to Poland, where same-sex marriage remains illegal and LGBTQ people have limited rights.
The video’s release also coincides with a series of civil protests across Poland. Demonstrators are accusing the nation’s ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), of “threatening democracy” with efforts to limit freedom of the press. The conservative government had also tried to introduce a dramatically restrictive abortion bill, only to backtrack after a wave of protests.
It has also moved to clamp down on public gatherings, placing in jeopardy the 2017 Warsaw Pride, which has previously drawn thousands of LGBTQ people and human rights advocates to the nation’s capital.
At the end of their video, all four men pledge solidarity with those protesters. Still, Kwiecinski told The Huffington Post that they want viewers to ultimately see the clip as a celebratory effort.
“We want to show that although radicals have power in our country at the moment, they don’t represent our nation as a whole,” he said. “We want to give people some fun, and in the end, show what is really important for us.”
Always one to speak her mind, Mariah would definitey approve!
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