Irshadgul News report,
Pride march in Katowice, Poland. (twitter/milosk_)
After years of violence, the two Pride marches in Poland have proceeded peacefully, with participants crediting their activism for the “changing reality”.
The Pride event in the Polish city of Katowice took place on Saturday (September 3) for the sixth year, and was attended by around 4,000 participants.
The march, organized jointly with the Ukrainian city of Odessa in solidarity, was threatened with anti-LGBTQ+ protests by the anti-LGBTQ+ anti-abortion group Fundacja Pro. The mayor of Katowice initially banned the group from participating in the Pride March in order to protect “security and public order”.
Although the mayor’s directive was overturned by a court, only a few members of Fundacja Pro attended the event, and the group’s banner went on peacefully despite the LGBTQ+ community being compared with pedophilia.
Katowice Pride organizer Przemyslav Vlas told notes from poland that was march “an opportunity for the community to feel safe and comfortable”, and “to remind our city, region and the whole of Poland that we are here, that we will not disappear because one has a problem with accepting that the world is black.” No and White”.
marsz rovnossi w lublini ystartowal dyumani idc lubelskimi ulikami. Mios! Rowanos! Acceptacza! pic.twitter.com/GPISw1JMSt
— Campania Prejekiv Homophobia (@KPH_official) 3 September 2022
In similar incidents, a pride march in the city of Lublin proceeded without violence, despite being targeted repeatedly over the years.
Over the years, counter-protesters have fanned the march, and violence has erupted as far-right protesters threw eggs and bottles at the crowd, while in 2019, a couple was arrested for bringing explosives to the march. it was done.
But on Saturday, nearly 1,000 people attended the event, and although there was a heavy police presence, violence was avoided.
One participant said that growing LGBTQ+ hostility from the Polish government has actually had the opposite effect. By attracting the attention of the queer community, politicians have helped the Polish people “discover that it is not an imaginary homosexual who spreads diseases, but in fact the person we buy bread from in the morning, our neighbors, or work.” But our allies”.
She continued: “There has been an absolutely huge change compared to previous years.
“We are extremely happy that our march has changed our reality.”