But Organisers Vow To Go Ahead

WARSAW, November 19, 2005  –  The March of Equality and Tolerance, dubbed ‘Gay Pride’, due to be staged in Poznań, western Poland, this afternoon (Saturday) has been officially banned.
 

Andrzej Nowakowski, the ‘voivode’ (representative of central government) of the Wielkopolska Province, has upheld the decision made earlier in the week by Ryszard Grobelny, Mayor of Poznań, to ban the march.

But march organisers, including Greens 2004 Party and the Konsola Women’s Association, have vowed to go ahead, despite the legal ruling.

“This is our basic right as the citizens of this country,” says Marta Jermaczek of the Greens.

Anna Szpytko, the spokesperson for mayor Grobelny, said on Tuesday that the decision was made due to “security concerns” and because it would be “a serious danger to social order and property”.

But this is dismissed by Polish activists who say the decision is politically motivated.

Even the fiercely independent Radio Polonia reported: “The official line is that the organisers refused to change the route but it seems fairly clear that the city authorities yielded to the combined pressure of right-wing councillors from the ruling Law and Justice and League of Polish Families as well as from the Social Council of Poznan Archbishop.”

The radio station said that mayor Grobelny was put in an impossible situation, adding that there were suggestions of pressures put on him by rightist groups and even government.

“I am sorry that the mayor of Poznań surrendered to the demands of the politicians from PiS, LPR, and the All-Polish Youth.  I'm sorry that tolerance and democracy fell under this pressure,” Izabela Kowalczyk of Greens 2004 said earlier in the week.

A similar, though legal, event was supposed to take place in 2004, but was blocked when far-right activists of the All-Polish Youth, an organization affiliated with the far-right League of Polish Families (LPR), began throwing stones at demonstrators.

AUDIO

Mayor of Poznań Bans Gay Pride Parade.  Audio report (MP3) by Radio Polonia's Michal Kubicki (Radio Polonia, November 18, 2005)

SEE ALSO

Polish City Bans Gay March for Security Reasons, by Marcin Sobczyk in Warsaw.  The mayor of Poznań, a metropolitan city in western Poland, banned a gay parade on Tuesday, Nov. 15.  The Poznań march, expected to gather some 500 demonstrators, was supposed to take place on Nov. 19 as part of the Days of Equality and Tolerance in Poznań, organized by leftist, ecological, and feminist groupings. (UK Gay News, November 16, 2005)

UK Gay News has many articles on Poland.  These can be accessed through the search engine on the main Archive page

LINK

Campaign Against Homophobia Poland website (in English)
Radio Polonia website (in English)
Polskie Radio website (in Polish)