![Parada Równości 2018 10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Parada_R%C3%B3wno%C5%9Bci_2018_10.jpg)
Equality marches or equality parades ( pl, marsze równości; parady równości) are the Polish equivalent of
pride parades
A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
,
which aim to improve
LGBT rights in Poland
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Poland face legal challenges not faced by non-LGBT residents. According to ILGA-Europe's 2022 report, the status of LGBTQ rights in Poland is the worst among European Union countries.
Bo ...
. They have been held in various Polish cities and towns since 2001.
Overview
![Warszawa](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Warszawa.ParadaR%C3%B3wno%C5%9Bci2006.5600.jpg)
In 2007 (''
Bączkowski v Poland''), the 2005 ban on holding equality marches in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
was overturned by the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
. The court judged that bans undermined the prohibition on
discrimination
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
and
freedom of assembly
Freedom of peaceful assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right or ability of people to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue, and defend their collective or shared ide ...
guaranteed by the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
.
Only a few marches were held until the late 2010s when the ruling Law and Justice party campaigned against
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality.
Notably, , 33 ...
. Since then, the rallies have spread to more conservative municipalities in Poland. In 2019, at least 25 marches were held, up from seven in 2017 and fifteen in 2018.
Many
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authorit ...
politicians oppose the equality marches as a "threat to public morality" and an effort to "promote homosexuality". They often reference obscene scenes that have occurred at Berlin's
Love Parade
The Love Parade (german: Loveparade) was a popular electronic dance music festival and technoparade that originated in 1989 in West Berlin, Germany. It was held annually in Berlin from 1989 to 2003 and in 2006, then from 2007 to 2010 in the Ru ...
s. Former president
Lech Kaczyński
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...
stated, "Gay people may protest as citizens but not as homosexuals".
[ Adviser to the Polish prime minister ]Jarosław Kaczyński
Jarosław Aleksander Kaczyński (; born 18 June 1949) is a Polish politician who is currently serving as leader of the Law and Justice party (known by its Polish acronym PiS), which he co-founded in 2001 with his twin brother, Lech Kaczyński, w ...
stated that equality marches are "a real threat to ... the Polish state".[ ]Neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
activists have held signs stating "Europa=Sodoma".[ ]Left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
supporters of the marchers argue that they are a part of Europeanization
Europeanisation (or Europeanization, see spelling differences) refers to a number of related phenomena and patterns of change:
*The process in which a notionally non-European subject (be it a culture, a language, a city or a nation) adopts a number ...
and that freedom of assembly is a human right
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
.[ Media reports on the marches often feature "ordinary people" who are disgusted by public displays and claim to have no issue with LGBT people as long as they remain hidden.][ One form of opposition is to organize "]March for Life and Family
March for Life and Family ( Pol. ''Marsz dla Życia i Rodziny'' ) is an annual march against abortion. The first march was in Warsaw, now the march is organizing in many towns in Poland, but not on the same date.
The ''Centre of Life and Family ...
"; 130 of these were held in 2019.[
]
By city
Warsaw
An equality march has been held in Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
since 2001, the first gay march in the former Communist bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. In 2005, All-Polish Youth
The All-Polish Youth ( pl, Młodzież Wszechpolska) refers to two inter-linked Polish far-right ultranationalist youth organizations, with a Catholic-nationalist philosophy. Its agenda declares that its aim is "''to raise Polish youth in a Cath ...
planned to hold a countermarch called "Normality Parade" ( pl, Parada Normalności); instead, the equality march was cancelled by then-mayor Lech Kaczyński
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...
, who argued that the event promoted a "homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
lifestyle". In 2010, EuroPride was held in Warsaw for the first time in a formerly Communist country. Several thousand people attended, and anti-gay groups collected 50,000 signatures that the event should be cancelled. In 2019, around 47,000 people participated, including (for the first time) the mayor of Warsaw
The city mayor of Warsaw, or more literally the ''city president of Warsaw'' (the official title in Polish is ''"prezydent miasta stołecznego Warszawy"'', literal translation ''"president of the capital city of Warsaw"'') is the head of the exec ...
, Rafał Trzaskowski
Rafał Kazimierz Trzaskowski (; born 17 January 1972) is a Polish politician and the current List of city mayors of Warsaw, city mayor of Warsaw. He is also a political scientist specializing in European studies.
He served as a Member of the Eur ...
. It was the largest pride parade in central and Eastern Europe.
Kraków
The equality march has been held in Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
since 2004. Before 2010, it was called a "tolerance march". In 2017, counter-demonstrators from All-Polish Youth directed participants towards a nearby psychiatric hospital, as if homosexuality is a disease.
Poznań
In Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
, an equality march was held on 19 November 2005. The mayor attempted to ban it but was unsuccessful.
Katowice
The first Katowice Equality March took place in 2008. After a 10-year old hiatus, new equality marches took place in 2018 and 2019.
Łódź
The equality march in Łódź
Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...
was first held in 2011. In 2015, vice-mayor was present. In 2019, the march was sponsored for the first time by the city authorities, although the mayor, Hanna Zdanowska
Hanna Elżbieta Zdanowska (born 29 March 1959) is a Polish politician. Zdanowska is a member of the Civic Platform and the current city mayor of Łódź since 13 December 2010.
Education
Hanna Zdanowska graduated from Lodz University of Techn ...
, was not present, the head of the city council , did attend. About 200 people participated and the marchers had to alter their route due to non-existent counter-demonstrations announced in advance by nationalist groups.
Gdańsk
The Tricity Equality March (for Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot) has been held in Gdańsk
Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...
since 2015. Notably, the assassinated mayor Paweł Adamowicz
Paweł Bogdan Adamowicz (; 2 November 1965 – 14 January 2019) was a Polish politician and lawyer who served as the city mayor of Gdańsk from 1998 until his assassination in 2019.
Adamowicz was one of the organizers of the 1988 Polish strik ...
opened the 2017 march and his successor, Aleksandra Dulkiewicz
Aleksandra Maria Dulkiewicz (; born 10 July 1979) is a Polish lawyer and the city mayor of Gdańsk since 11 March 2019.
Biography
In 1994, she graduated froThe Primary School No. 50named after Emilia Plater in Gdańsk. In 1999 she graduated fr ...
, opened the 2019 march.[
]
Toruń
The equality march in Toruń
)''
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
was first held in October 2017.
Rzeszów
The equality march in Rzeszów
Rzeszów ( , ; la, Resovia; yi, ריישא ''Raisha'')) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów has been the capital of the Subcarpathian Vo ...
was the first to be held in Podkarpacie Voivodeship, on 30 June 2018. About 1,000 to 1,500 people participated, including the MP Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus
Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus (born 8 February 1972) is a Polish politician. She is a member of the Sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is th ...
and the actor Omar Sangare
Omar Sangare (born 14 November 1970, Stalowa Wola) is a Poles, Polish United States, American actor, academic, poet, and theatre director. He graduated from The Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw, where he studied w ...
. Clashes with nationalist counter-demonstrators from All-Polish Youth
The All-Polish Youth ( pl, Młodzież Wszechpolska) refers to two inter-linked Polish far-right ultranationalist youth organizations, with a Catholic-nationalist philosophy. Its agenda declares that its aim is "''to raise Polish youth in a Cath ...
occurred during the first march, but the police intervened to separate them. There were also anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
counter-demonstrators. After activists announced plans to hold the rally again in 2019, Law and Justice councillors drafted a resolution to make Rzeszów an "LGBT-free zone
LGBT-free zones ( pl, Strefy wolne od LGBT) or LGBT ideology-free zones ( pl, Strefy wolne od ideologii LGBT) are municipalities and regions of Poland that have declared themselves unwelcoming of what they described as "LGBT ideology", in order ...
" and ban the event. Some 29 requests for counter-demonstrations reached city hall, which led mayor Tadeusz Ferenc, the opposition Democratic Left Alliance
The Democratic Left Alliance () was a social-democratic political party in Poland. It was formed in 9 July 1991 as an electoral alliance of centre-left parties, and became a single party on 15 April 1999. It was the major coalition party in Po ...
, to halt the march due to security concerns. The ban was overturned by a court ruling and proposed a resolution against "LGBT ideology
Anti-LGBT rhetoric comprises themes, catchphrases, and slogans that have been used against homosexuality or other non-heterosexual sexual orientations in order to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. They range from t ...
" failed by two votes.
Częstochowa
Equality march in Częstochowa
Częstochowa ( , ; german: Tschenstochau, Czenstochau; la, Czanstochova) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta River with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship (admin ...
was first held in July 2018; the police intervened to prevent counter-demonstrators from blocking the route. Following the demonstration, prosecutors were notified that participants had displayed a version of the Polish flag
The national flag of Poland ( pl, flaga Polski) consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colours are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colours. A variant of the flag ...
in rainbow colors. However, they determined that no crime had been committed. Another march was held on 16 June 2019, attracting controversy due to the proximity of the Jasna Góra Monastery
The Jasna Góra Monastery ( pl, Jasna Góra , ''Luminous Mount'', hu, Fényes Hegy, lat, Clarus Mons) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Mad ...
.
Lublin
An equality march was first held in Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
in 2018. During the 2019 march, riot police used tear gas to disperse counter-demonstrators, some of whom attempted to throw eggs at pro-equality marchers; 25 people were arrested for attacking participants. No one was seriously harmed during the march, although organizers received death threats
A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a deat ...
.[ A married couple arrested while protesting the march was sentenced to a year in jail each for bringing home-made ]explosives
An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...
in their backpacks.
Szczecin
The equality march in Szczecin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...
so far has been held in 2018 and 2019.
Białystok
Białystok
Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area.
Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...
Equality March was first held in 2019. More than 30 people were arrested in connection with a violent counter-demonstration.
References
{{Pride parades
Equality marches in Poland