ChuckD
The Gay Lord of Freestyle
Marchers defy Gay Pride ban in Poland
After receiving messages of support from gay campaigning groups across Europe, gay rights groups in Poland defied a ban issued by the mayor of Warsaw and marched through the city on Saturday.
Around 2,500 LGBT people and their supporters took to the streets of the Polish capital demanding more recognition and calling on Mayor Lech Kaczynski to relax his anti-gay stance.
Kaczynski had barred the Pride parade, warning that it was akin to "propagating gay orientation." He had also criticized the organizers for planning it on the same day as an unveiling of a statue dedicated to a war-time resistance fighter.
However, the march's organizers said Kaczynski was barring the event because of his homophobic attitudes, pointing to his attempt to block last year's event too.
Those attending Saturday's march held banners that criticized how LGBT people were treated in the staunchly Catholic country. According to press reports, many slammed media suggestions that homosexuality was a disease or similar to pedophilia. Many pointedly called for "law and justice for all."
One marcher told the Associated Press that those marching were there to remind Polish people that lesbian and gay people exist in the country.
"Such demonstrations are needed so people get to know us better and get used to us," Paulina Pilch said.
Last week, campaigners from across the continent sent messages of support to the organizers of the parade and slammed the mayor for his homophobic attitudes.
The International Lesbian and Gay Association for Europe issued a petition, which called on the Polish government to punish the mayor.
It also said other E.U. member states should intervene and call on Poland to adhere to human rights "in the name of democratic Europe."
Also this weekend, marchers in a Pride event in Hamburg, Germany, reportedly set a new world record for a group hug, with 16,000 people embracing each other for 10 seconds.
After receiving messages of support from gay campaigning groups across Europe, gay rights groups in Poland defied a ban issued by the mayor of Warsaw and marched through the city on Saturday.
Around 2,500 LGBT people and their supporters took to the streets of the Polish capital demanding more recognition and calling on Mayor Lech Kaczynski to relax his anti-gay stance.
Kaczynski had barred the Pride parade, warning that it was akin to "propagating gay orientation." He had also criticized the organizers for planning it on the same day as an unveiling of a statue dedicated to a war-time resistance fighter.
However, the march's organizers said Kaczynski was barring the event because of his homophobic attitudes, pointing to his attempt to block last year's event too.
Those attending Saturday's march held banners that criticized how LGBT people were treated in the staunchly Catholic country. According to press reports, many slammed media suggestions that homosexuality was a disease or similar to pedophilia. Many pointedly called for "law and justice for all."
One marcher told the Associated Press that those marching were there to remind Polish people that lesbian and gay people exist in the country.
"Such demonstrations are needed so people get to know us better and get used to us," Paulina Pilch said.
Last week, campaigners from across the continent sent messages of support to the organizers of the parade and slammed the mayor for his homophobic attitudes.
The International Lesbian and Gay Association for Europe issued a petition, which called on the Polish government to punish the mayor.
It also said other E.U. member states should intervene and call on Poland to adhere to human rights "in the name of democratic Europe."
Also this weekend, marchers in a Pride event in Hamburg, Germany, reportedly set a new world record for a group hug, with 16,000 people embracing each other for 10 seconds.