Warsaw gays march unhindered

2006-06-10 18:09

Warsaw - Several thousand people marched peacefully through Warsaw in the Polish capital's annual gay rights march on Saturday, an event marked in previous years by official bans and violence.

The demonstrators marched - amid a heavy police presence - to the strains of loud music, led by a truck with a banner reading "Homophobia Kills"

The Equality Parade comes as an increasingly vocal gay rights movement faces off against conservative leaders determined to maintain the status quo in the country.

Homosexuality remains very much a taboo in Poland and much of the region. Activists are up against a widespread belief that being gay is a perversion.

This year's march attracted supporters from western Europe.

A Green lawmaker from the Hamburg state parliament in Germany, Farid Mueller, marched with a group of more than a dozen green-shirted activists.

Mueller said he was worried the Polish government would play "conservative politics regarding the rights of the minority, which are not a private or internal affair of Poland".

Demonstration 'threatens civilisation'

Former Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski, now the country's president, refused to grant permits for the parade in 2004 and 2005. He said allowing homosexuals to demonstrate openly "threatens civilisation".

Marchers rallied in defiance of the ban last year, clashing with opponents who threw eggs and stones.

Attempts to stop the march drew criticism from throughout Europe.

This year, Polish authorities had granted permission for the event.

A right-wing youth group, linked to a junior partner in Poland's coalition government, called off a planned counter-rally on Saturday, citing concern for public order.

"We do not agree to being pushed into a ghetto," said marcher Ania Kurowicka, a 21-year-old Warsaw University student. "We do not want to be called deviants, sick people or criminals.

"We don't want young people to think it is OK to throw stones at us because we are different."

- AP