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Campaigners march for gay rights in Poland
Sat May 19, 3:54 PM ET
AFP

Gay rights campaigners from Poland and across Europe marched in Warsaw Saturday in an annual rally galvanised by what activists say is rampant public and official homophobia in this 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 seen as better than in Poland.

The 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.

Only several dozen such protesters were present Saturday, most of them members of a far-right youth group.

"Five members of the group were arrested," Warsaw police spokesman Mariusz Sokolowski told AFP.

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, singling out Roman Giertych, of the far-right League of Polish Families (LPR).

Giertych, who is education minister and a deputy premier in the country's coalition government, launched a drive this week to ban classroom discussion of homosexuality.

He said the move was vital to protect marriage and the family.

His draft law would require school head teachers to stop "homosexual propaganda" in the same way as they have a duty to tackle classroom violence, hatred and discrimination, or pornography.

The plans have come under fire from the EU's equal opportunities commissioner, who has said Poland would be in breach of European law if it goes ahead.

The Council of Europe also criticised Giertych last year over the sacking of education official Miroslaw Sielatycki allegedly because he had overseen publication of a Polish-language version of a Council of Europe manual on human rights education, which contained a section on homosexuality and homophobia.

Besides in't Veld, around two dozen politicians from other EU countries joined the Warsaw march, organisers said.

Among them were Sweden's European Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstroem, German Green Party chief Claudia Roth, and her party colleague Volker Beck, who is a leading gay activist.

"To be here today with so many people, and so much strong support from all over Europe, makes clear that progress is possible and that you should not give up," Roth told reporters.

Earlier this month, an opinion poll found that 53 percent of Poles considered homosexuality a sin and 58 percent that gay and lesbians should be denied the right to demonstrate.

The 2004 and 2005 marches were banned by Warsaw's then mayor, Lech Kaczynski, a conservative Catholic who was sworn in as president of Poland in December 2005.

In 2005, Kaczynski said that spreading "homosexual propaganda" fell outside rules protecting freedom of assembly.

Several thousand people nonetheless went ahead and marched in 2005, and earlier this month Poland was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights over that year's ban.

The authorities allowed the 2006 march to go ahead, despite repeated calls for a ban from the LPR -- which last year joined Poland's coalition government, along with Kaczynski's Law and Justice (PiS) party.

PiS lost control of Warsaw city hall in municipal elections last November to a liberal, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, who organisers said had been "very cooperative."

Beck said his attention was already turning further east to Russia, where a string of Gay Pride events have been banned.

"We should see it as a global struggle. If the civil rights of any minority are in danger, any European democrat has to speak out," he said.


Thousands join Polish gay march
POSTED: 1436 GMT (2236 HKT), May 19, 2007

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Thousands of people marched Saturday in the capital's annual gay-rights parade, days after the education minister called for a ban on the "propagation of homosexuality" in Poland's schools.

About 5,000 demonstrators marched from parliament through downtown, amid a heavy police presence, led by a truck festooned with red, blue, green and purple balloons and blasting strains of loud music.

Some marchers carried placards reading "Stop homophobia," while others toted rainbow flags, a symbol of the gay community.

The Equality Parade comes as an increasingly vocal gay rights movement faces off against conservative leaders who have openly denounced homosexuality.

Homosexuality largely remains a taboo in predominantly Catholic Poland and elsewhere in eastern Europe, and activists are up against a widespread belief that it is a perversion.

In past years, gay rights rallies in Warsaw and the western city of Poznan resulted in violent clashes but no incidents were reported Saturday.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Roman Giertych called for a ban on the "propagation of homosexuality" in the country's schools, a plan that he argues would protect traditional family values.

Giertych -- who leads the ultraconservative League of Polish Families, a junior partner in Poland's governing coalition -- insisted his proposals "do not discriminate against anyone."

"It is only to protect youth from the propagation of views that threaten marriage, threaten family, and threaten the duties of school, which are to prepare one to fulfill family duties and the duties of a citizen," he said.

The minister unveiled his proposal less than a month after the European Parliament passed a resolution sharply criticizing senior Polish officials for declarations "inciting discrimination and hatred based on sexual orientation."

Marcher Witold Serafin, 30, argued that "there is no equality" for gays in Poland, but added that discrimination is slowly tapering off, thanks to the attention politicians like Giertych draw to the issue.

"The more politicians fight against homosexuality, the more regular people seem to accept it," Serafin said.

The far-right All-Polish Youth, the official youth-wing of the League of Polish Families until late last year, held a small counter demonstration nearby with placards reading "Homo go home."

Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski's socially conservative government has made defending traditional Roman Catholic values a cornerstone of its platform.

Kaczynski's brother, President Lech Kaczynski, refused to grant parade permits for gay rights marches while he served as mayor of Warsaw.

DW staff / AFP (ncy) | www.dw-world.de | © Deutsche Welle.
Gay Activists Poised for Warsaw Rights Rally
Gay activists rally for rights in Warsaw

Gay rights campaigners from Poland and across Europe gathered Saturday for their annual rally which has been galvanized by what activists say is rampant public and official homophobia.

A string of politicians from other European Union countries where the lot of gays and lesbians is better than in Poland were expected to join the march, organizers said.

Among them were Sweden's European Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmstroem, German Green Party chief Claudia Roth, plus her party colleague Volker Beck and Spanish Socialist lawmaker Pedro Zerolo, both leading gay activists.

"We are also expecting plenty of homosexuals from abroad, especially from Germany, the Netherlands and France," Robert Biedron, president of the Campaign Against Homophobia, told AFP ahead of Saturday afternoon's parade.

Bildunterschrift: Claudia Roth took part in the parade last year, too
The Equality March, which drew only a few score demonstrators when it began in 2001, now attracts several thousand people who in recent years have faced official bans and violent protests by far-right groups.

"Climate of fear"

Poland's homosexual community has in the past said it lives in a "climate of fear."

Even high-ranking Polish politicians make openly homophobic statements.

Earlier this month, an opinion poll found that 53 percent of Poles considered homosexuality a sin, and 58 percent believed gays and lesbians should be denied the right to demonstrate.

The 2004 and 2005 marches were banned by Warsaw's then mayor, Lech Kaczynski, a conservative Catholic who was sworn in as president of Poland in December 2005. In 2005, Kaczynski said that spreading "homosexual propaganda" did not fall under rules protecting freedom of assembly.

Several thousand people nonetheless marched in 2005, and earlier this month, Poland was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights over that year's ban.

Power changed hands

The authorities nonetheless allowed the 2006 march to go ahead, despite repeated calls for a ban from the Catholic nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR) -- since last year a member of Poland's three-party coalition government, along with Kaczynski's Law and Justice (PiS) party.

Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Poland was rebuked by the European Court of Human Rights for the 2005 ban
PiS lost control of Warsaw city hall in municipal elections last November, and Biedron said the new mayor, liberal Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, had been "very cooperative."

Poland's policy was under the spotlight this week when the LPR's Roman Giertych, who is education minister and a deputy premier, launched a drive to ban classroom discussion of homosexuality. He said the move was vital to protect marriage and the family.

His draft law would require school head teachers to stop "homosexual propaganda" in the same way as they have a duty to tackle classroom violence, hatred and discrimination, or pornography.

The plans have come under fire from the EU's equal opportunities commissioner.

DW staff / AFP (ncy)