WARSAW, June 11  –  Two high-ranking Polish government officials joined the Gay Pride event today in Warsaw, despite a “ban” by the city’s right-wing mayor, Lech Kaczynski who is currently the front-runner to win the Polish presidential election later this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka, who is also Minister for Social Policy, and Tomasz Nałęcz, the deputy speaker of Parliament, joined a rally in front of the Parliament building, much to the delight of the Warsaw gay community.

Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka
 

Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister called for a broad educational campaign on homosexuality.  She told a conference at the start of the Warsaw Pride weekend that in Poland gays are seen as people to be afraid of.

“I am here to express my protest against the Mayor’s decision which is a violation of the Polish constitution and of civic rights.  I am here to show my respect for the Polish tradition of tolerance,” the deputy speaker of the Polish Parliament said.

Deputy Mayor of Warsaw, Andrzej Urbanski, hit back at the presence of high-ranking officials, pointing out that they had taken a constitutional oath of office to adhere to the law.

“It is not us {the city of Warsaw] who have broken the law by banning the demonstration, but those who are participating in it,” he said.

Reports indicate that the police made ten arrests.  According to Polish Television, counter-demonstrators started to throw stones at the parade and three people, including a policeman, were injured.  Also, participants had eggs thrown at them.

Police estimated the parade attracted some 2,500 participants, with about 300 counter-demonstrators who tried to put up barricades along the route.

Also taking part was Claudia Roth of the German Green Party.  She had a message for the Mayor, reminding him of the obligations of the city now Poland is a full member of the European Union:  “Mayor Kaczynski, democracy also means freedom of assembly and expression for gays and lesbians.”

The event has brought considerable controversy with Mayor Kaczynski complaining that “the police undertook to protect an illegal demonstration by gay and lesbian organizations but drastically attacked other illegal gatherings.”

The situation, he said, “constitutes an infringement of the principles of social coexistence”.

■  At around the same time that the parade in Warsaw was concluding, around 1,000 gays were starting the first-ever Pride parade in Canterbury, in south east England.  This event was not only supported by the city authorities, but used to forge closer links with the LGBT community.  See report from BBC News.

LINKS

From UK Gay News archive:

Poland Fails EU Human Rights Obligations On Gay Issues - OutRage! – June 8
Warsaw’s Gay Pride Parade To Go Ahead Despite Mayor’s Ban. – May 23
Mayor Puts Damper on Gay Pride Parade in Warsaw. – May 19

Krakow Pride, April 2005
A Bird Sang at Auschwitz As Gays Remembered Holocaust Victims
March Is Off, But the Show Goes On

From Radio Polonia
Deputy PM Calls For Educational Campaign on Homosexuality – June 10

Audio report (MP3): Human Rights Groups Protest Gay Pride Ban from Polskie Radio News, Poland

11 June  2005