Transgendered Lawmaker up for Key Vote in Poland The before and after photos of Anna Grodzka show how much she - and her country - have transformed. As a man, she once wore a thick beard. Now, Poland's first transgendered lawmaker favors big dangly earrings and form-fitting dresses, her hair in a feminine bob. Grodzka attracted huge attention when she was elected in 2011, and as a vote in Parliament comes Friday that could make her a deputy speaker she is earning even more. Whether or not the 58-year-old wins the post, she has already had a huge impact on the political scene, becoming perhaps the most prominent symbol of liberal change in a country that has traditionally been deeply conservative and overwhelmingly Roman Catholic. "Certain taboos are being dismantled," said Jacek Kucharczyk, a political analyst and the president of the Institute of Public Affairs in Warsaw. Serious news magazines have featured her on their front covers, with analytical pieces examining the role of gays and other sexual minorities in society. The tabloids zero in on more frivolous things, like the difficulty the nearly 6-foot-2 (nearly 1.9-meter) Grodzka faces finding pretty clothes. Or how she freezes in panty hose in the frigid Polish winters, but still refuses to wear pants. Lawmaker Anna Grodzka speaks to The Associated Press during an interview in the Polish Parliament, Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013. Grodzka had sex change surgery in 2010 in Thailand after a lifetime of feeling she was born the wrong sex. Before the change her name was Krzysztof Begowski, and she had a wife and a son. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) Close Grodzka said she herself is still sometimes surprised that she garnered 20,000 votes in her conservative home city, Krakow, to win a seat in Parliament. People have attacked her office, throwing things at the windows or ripping her rainbow flags. But all in all, she feels a growing acceptance from society, she told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. She is aware she is a symbol of historic change in Poland, she said, and is trying to meet that challenge by doing the best work possible as a lawmaker, and, should she win the post Friday, as deputy speaker. I am above all trying to be a normal politician, like any other person, but maybe even better. I am really trying so that people who observe me will know that transgendered people are no worse in any way than any others," Grodzka said, her fingernails painted a bright blue. The social transformation has been visible in other areas too, including growing support for the state to fund in vitro fertilization, despite conservative Catholic opposition. But it is particularly notable for the new attention given to the rights of sexual minorities, an issue suppressed in communist times and after the fall of communism in 1989, as many Poles looked to the powerful Catholic church for guidance through the economic and social turmoil. The church's role was long bolstered by its reputation for standing up to the communists and because of the authority of the late Polish Pope John Paul II. But its influence has waned since John Paul's death in 2005 and as Poland joined the EU in 2004 and became more closely integrated with the West. A key turning point came as a new progressive party - Palikot's Movement - swept into power in 2011 as Parliament's third-largest force, one fighting for gay rights and against the church's traditional influence over public life. Its representatives include Grodzka and Poland's first openly gay lawmaker, Robert Biedron. It can be an uphill battle. Last month lawmakers tackled the issue of civil partnerships, but rejected legislation that would have given unmarried couples - gay or straight - any legal rights.