Tag: Poland

An archbishop in Poland has warned of a "rainbow plague" amid ongoing tensions in the country over gay rights. Marek Jedraszewski, the archbishop of Krakow, made the comments during a homily to mark the 75th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. "We also know that our land is thankfully no longer affected by the red plague (taken to be a reference to communism), which does not mean that there is no new one that wants to control our souls, our hearts...

WARSAW (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Twitter users have expressed support for gay rights in Poland as part of the #jestemLGBT campaign, aimed at fighting discrimination and homophobia in a country where the ruling party is strongly socially conservative. The #jestemLGBT (I am LGBT) campaign, was launched earlier this week by Twitter users. Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has made its opposition to LGBT rights a campaign issue ahead of a parliamentary election expected in October,...

The rock music band Rammstein gave a big middle finger to Russia’s anti-gay propaganda law by kissing onstage during their concert at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow last night. The German band’s guitarists, Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe, kissed onstage and the band then posted an image of their smooch on Instagram along with the message “Russia, we love you,” written in Russian. Though the kiss itself was just a small peck at the end of a song, it’s a bold...

Between considering a Russian-style gay propaganda ban, issuing “LGBT-free zones” stickers to businesses and pelting Pride marchers with fireworks and bricks, Poland’s queerphobes have become violently unhinged. That’s why Jakub Kwiecinski grabbed a bunch of his Polish pals to make their own lip-sync video of Taylor Swift’s recent anti-hate tune, “You Need To Calm Down.” Kwiecinski tells LGBTQ Nation, “When David and I watched Taylor Swift’s music video ‘You Need To Calm Down’ with all LGBT stars it inspired us to...

Hundreds of Pride marchers in Bialystok, Poland were met by a mob of thousands of angry counter-protestors who blocked their way, uttered slurs and threw eggs, rotten vegetable, bricks, stones and fireworks, according to The New York Times. Video also shows counter-protestors burning rainbow flags and ripping down pro-LGBTQ banners as a police helicopter whirls overhead and teargas gets shot into the crowd. The Times reports, “Even before the march started, there were violent confrontations, and by the time the...

The main square in the city center of Bialystok, Poland, at dawn. / Image via Wikimedia (@Slowacki) As Instinct reported yesterday, a wave of violence struck Bialystok, Poland’s first Pride celebrations over last weekend. Thousands converged on the city, northeast Poland’s largest, including both rainbow-clad Pride revelers and anti-gay protesters, many of whom were tied to various far-right political organizations and to the fringes of the ruling Law and Justice Party. These aggressively anti-gay crowds, shouting obscenities and physically threatening marchers,...

In the last year, the homophobic discourse within Polish politics has risen considerably and several high-ranking government officials made anti-LGBTQ statements. The prominent Polish LGBTQI-activist Dominik Kuc told me a few months ago, PiS (the ruling, rightwing Law and Justice Party) was searching a new enemy of the state. With the previous general elections in 2014 – their common enemy were Muslim migrants. Since almost no migrants with a Muslim background came to Poland, they could not use this strategy...

WARSAW (Reuters) - A conservative magazine in Poland distributed “LGBT-free zone” stickers with its weekly edition on Wednesday, amid a mounting backlash against gay rights in central Europe’s largest nation ahead of a parliamentary election this year. Diplomats and opposition politicians in Poland have criticized the Gazeta Polska’s campaign and a major bookseller, Empik, as well as the Polish branch of British oil company BP, have said they would not carry the edition. Gazeta Polska’s editor-in-chief, Tomasz Sakiewicz, said...

Screenshot via YouTube @Polish Gay Pride marchers defy stone-throwing hooligans | AFP Poland’s becoming an increasingly hostile place for LGBTQ people. The country had its first Gay Pride parade in the city of Bialystok, but the 1,000 people decorated in rainbow colors were unfortunately met with thousands of anti-LGBTQ protesters. And some were more violent than others. As the march went by, it passed signs and shouts comparing gay people to pedophiles. One section of the day even included stoning by...

Screenshot via YouTube @Polish Gay Pride marchers defy stone-throwing hooligans | AFP Poland is becoming an increasingly hostile place for LGBTQ people. Bialystok, Poland had its first gay pride, but the 1,000 people decorated in rainbow colors were unfortunately met with thousands of anti-LGBTQ protesters. And some were more violent than others. This is a far cry from Poland’s first pride which was in Parada Rownosci in Warsaw last year, attracting over 50,000 people and happening without any major incidents. As...

Screenshot via YouTube @Polish Gay Pride marchers defy stone-throwing hooligans | AFP Poland’s becoming an increasingly hostile place for LGBTQ people. The country had its first Gay Pride parade in the city of Bialystok, but the 1,000 people decorated in rainbow colors were unfortunately met with thousands of anti-LGBTQ protesters. And some were more violent than others. As the march went by, it passed signs and shouts comparing gay people to pedophiles. One section of the day even included stoning by...

Police have arrested 25 people in eastern Poland after homophobic attacks on a city’s first equality march. Videos posted on social media showed show men attacking several males and one female LGBT activists taking part in the Pride march in the city of Bialystok on Saturday. Addressing the attacks, interior minister Elzbieta Witek said “Officers ensure security regardless of the ideas, values and beliefs proclaimed by citizens. Read more: Poland's ruling party picks LGBT rights as election battlefront “Any person who breaks the...

Violent far-right protestors attacked a Pride parade with flash bombs, rocks, and glass bottles. The city of Bialystok, Poland, was having its first Pride celebration on Saturday, and an estimated 1000 supporters marched. But over 4000 far-right counter-protestors showed up, shouting slogans like “God, honor, and motherland” and “Bialystok free of perverts.” The counter-protestors threw objects at the Pride marchers. Piotr Fijalkowski posted video of counter-protestors destroying a Pride flag and attacking police officers. 1/3Te 3 filmy dedykuję………(w domyśle bardzo obraźliwe) – @TomaszSakiewicz, @TomaszBrussy...

A Polish news magazine has announced plans to distribute stickers proclaiming an “LGBT-free zone” to its readers, reports CNN. The far-right weekly publication Gazeta Polska said it intends to include the stickers, which feature an image of a black cross over a Pride flag alongside the inflammatory slogan, in its next issue. The stickers have sparked international outrage and was criticized by the US Ambassador to Poland. “I am disappointed and concerned that some groups use stickers to promote hatred and intolerance,”...