Thousands Joined LGBT Pride in Poland Cities
Thousands of people have participated in the annual LGBT equality marches in the cities of Katowice and Lublin. The former event was held jointly with the Ukrainian city of Odesa as a show of solidarity with those unable to celebrate pride in their wartorn homeland.
In Lublin, the march took place without the violent nationalist opposition seen in previous years. In Katowice, an attempt by the mayor to ban a religious protest against the parade on public safety grounds was overturned in court, but the event passed peacefully.
Katowice’s equality parade was the sixth to take place in the city. Around 4,000 people took part, reports broadcaster TVN. “There are more and more of us,” said organizer PrzemysĹ‚aw Wales.
He noted that the event was “an opportunity for the community to feel safe and comfortable” but also to remind “our city, the region, and all of Poland that we are here, that we will not disappear because someone has a problem accepting that the world is not black and white”.
Recent years have seen a sustained campaign, led by the ruling party and Catholic church, against what they call “LGBT ideology” as a result. For the last three years, Poland has been ranked as the EU’s worst country for LGBT people.
Notes:
There is nothing unusual about right-wing political movements using LGBT+ people as scapegoats and Poland’s governing party, the Law and Justice Party, has pivoted from demonising migrants to demonising LGBT+ people by claiming that we undermine traditions (i.e. patriarchy) and ‘the family’ and children. These are standard tropes which have always been used to marginalise, dehumanise and terrorise LGBT+ people, or anyone who is perceived to be one of us.
More recently, a right-wing newspaper, supportive of the anti-LGBT government, has stated its intention to distribute ‘LGBT-free zone’ stickers in a blatant effort to strike fear into LGBT+ people and limit their ability to be visible and to participate fully in polish society.
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