[LeatherTrumpet]

Police have arrested 25 people in the eastern Polish town of Bialystok
Saturday after attacks on a city's first pride march


LGBT rights have become an issue ahead of the October election with the
ruling Law and Justice party depicting activists as a threat to traditional
Polish values.


Ringed by riot police, around 1,000 pride marchers walked defiantly through
the streets of the northeastern city of Bialystok as thousands of nationalist
football "ultra" fans , far-right groups and others threw flash bombs, rocks
and glass bottles.

As counter-protesters yelled "God, honor and motherland" and "Bialystok free
of perverts," the pride marchers chanted "Poland free of fascists" in return.
Police said about 4,000 people were involved in demonstrations against the
march.




Many Poles in the country's urban centers are supportive of the push for more
LGBTQ rights, with Warsaw hosting its largest pride parade earlier in June.

But there has been resistance elsewhere to the community's increasing
visibility in a country where same-sex marriage and adoptions are illegal,
and anti-LGBTQ attacks are not considered a hate crime by law.


In the run-up to October's general election, PiS party leader Jaroslaw
Kaczynski framed the opposition's support for more equality as an "attack on
the family," calling LGBTQ rights a "threat" in the devout Catholic country.


Critics say the tactic helps rally its more religious and rural base. "All the signs
are showing that Kaczynski will continue with the scapegoat strategy, which
goes hand-in-hand with the Polish Catholic church that has made the


LGBTQ community its biggest enemy," said Miroslawa Makuchowska, head

of the political division of the Polish advocacy group Campaign Against

Homophobia.



This week, the right-wing weekly publication Gazeta Polska announced plans
to distribute stickers proclaiming an "LGBT-free zone" to its readers. More than
30 councils had declared themselves free of "LGBT ideology" in the past few
months -- in response to Warsaw's liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from the
opposition Civic Platform (PO), signing a declaration in support of LGBTQ
rights.

In Bialystok, leaflets anonymously placed around the city ahead of the march
said that streets would be "contaminated with LGBT bacteria" on Saturday.


https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/21/e...ntl/index.html

[Ammi]

...hopefully there weren’t any injuries, the article didn’t say...the attack is awful but a huge well done for their first Pride march...a huge progressive step.....

[Ammi]

...also the other Pride family celebrations/picnics that were being enjoyed...whole families celebrating LGBT in Poland....wow, immense...

[bitontheslide]

Amazing how quickly poland have forgotten the freedom they had to fight so hard to achieve

[arista]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

Amazing how quickly poland have forgotten the freedom they had to fight so hard to achieve

Yes it appears to going back in time
in their Politics

[Cherie]

Didn't Tomaz mention this on BB and this is why he came to the UK because of lack of acceptance, it looks like they have a way to go unfortunately

[Greg!]

Exactly why pride marches are still needed. Sadly a long way to go until there’s true equality around the world

[Twosugars]

Not surprised

[Jigs]

I'm looking at this picture and really struggling to understand why these people care so much

like

what about the LGBTQ+ community offends you so much????

[Nicky91]

Originally Posted by Jigs

I'm looking at this picture and really struggling to understand why these people care so much

like

what about the LGBTQ+ community offends you so much????

catholic churches do that, they make morons like these people over here believe being gay is an illness



also that person wearing that mask over his face makes me think of me as someone ripe for mental hospital

[Twosugars]

the most depressing is that they're young

there's are some far right youth organizations in Poland
I guess they need an enemy + they're yobs looking for a fight
the catholic church hierarchy is very conservative (not very supportive of the current pope) and their campaign against "gender ideology" as they call it (aka LGBT issues), makes things worse.
this item doesn't reflect the whole poland of course (there're pride marches, gay venues, people out and proud, gay press), but there's no denying it is a worry

[Twosugars]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

Amazing how quickly poland have forgotten the freedom they had to fight so hard to achieve

Sadly some were fighting for their right to be bigots

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Twosugars

the most depressing is that they're young

there's are some far right youth organizations in Poland
I guess they need an enemy + they're yobs looking for a fight
the catholic church hierarchy is very conservative (not very supportive of the current pope) and their campaign against "gender ideology" as they call it (aka LGBT issues), makes things worse.
this item doesn't reflect the whole poland of course (there're pride marches, gay venues, people out and proud, gay press), but there's no denying it is a worry

This is an actual statue in the Vatican, no joke.........

Spoiler:

[Twosugars]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

This is an actual statue in the Vatican, no joke.........

Spoiler:

Omfg

[Tom4784]

It's sadly not surprising. Poland may be located in Central Europe but it's approach to LGBT issues is purely Eastern European.

This is why church and state should be forever seperate.

[LeatherTrumpet]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

This is an actual statue in the Vatican, no joke.........

Spoiler:

it even has a fanny shaped glory hole

[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

it even has a fanny shaped glory hole

There's some very weird art in there