Campaigners march for gay rights in Poland
Pastor Dale Morgan
Campaigners march for gay rights in Poland
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May 20, 2007 09:56am
Article from: Agence France-Presse
GAY rights campaigners from Poland and across Europe have marched in
Warsaw to protest public and official homophobia in the overwhelmingly
Catholic country.
Around 4,000 people turned out for the Equality Parade, police said.
Many of the participants carried the rainbow flag, the symbol of
homosexual rights, and marched under the slogan "Love Thy Neighbour'' -
the use of the biblical commandant an apparent swipe at ultra-Catholic
protesters.
There was little sign of the flamboyant dress, including drag, which is
a feature of Gay Pride events in other European Union countries where
the lot of homosexuals is thought to be better than in Poland.
The annual Warsaw march, which drew only a few score demonstrators when
it began in 2001, has a traditionally political edge due to official
bans and sometimes violent counter-demonstrations.
There were several dozen opposing protesters present on Saturday, most
of them members of a far-right youth group.
"Five members of the group were arrested,'' Warsaw police spokesman
Mariusz Sokolowski said.
Poland's homosexual community has in the past complained of living in a
"climate of fear.''
Even high-ranking Polish politicians make openly homophobic statements.
"Homophobia is not the exclusive monopoly of Poland. It exists
everywhere,'' said Sophia in't Veld, a Dutch member of the European
Parliament who was attending the march in a show of solidarity.
"But the difference is that here there are prominent government
politicians who are creating a climate of hatred and fear against
homosexuals,'' she said.