The mayors responce to the police support at the very end of the story is the part that has left me speechless. The rest of the story is very uplifting.
(Warsaw) More than 2,500 people ignored an order from the mayor of Warsaw and marched through the Polish capital Saturday.
Hundreds of police officers were on hand to keep order, but did not try to stop the march. Some officers joined in the parade to cheers from the marchers
Members of a right wing group got into skirmishes with marchers. At the beginning of the parade the group hurled insults at the marchers. Several rushed through a barricade in an attempt to beat marchers. Others lay down in the street in an effort to stop the parade. They were dragged to the curb by police.
Dozens of youths from a militant group were waiting as the marchers arrived at the Parliament buildings and pelted the crowd with eggs. Police struggled to try to regain order, but were vastly outnumbered.
There were no serious injuries. About a dozen people on both sides were arrested and later released a police spokesperson said.
Many of the marchers carried signs reading "Justice for all". A number of people who joined in the parade were not gay.
"I'm hetero myself, but I quite simply support these people, because they have the right to express themselves as they want," one man told Polish Radio.
At a rally in front of the Parliament building gay rights leaders joined by Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka and Tomasz Nałęcz, the deputy speaker of Parliament.
“I am here to express my protest against the Mayor’s decision which is a violation of the Polish constitution and of civic rights," said Nalecz to wild cheers. " I am here to show my respect for the Polish tradition of tolerance.”
Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski last month banned Pride organizers from holding the parade. (story)
Kaczynski said he is "for tolerance, but am against propagating gay orientation". The ultra conservative mayor who is seeking the Polish presidency said that a Pride parade would detract from the unveiling of a monument the same day to Gen Stefan Rowecki, a leader of Poland's anti-Nazi underground army during World War II.
Last year, Kaczynski banned Pride, saying he feared clashes between gay rights groups and opponents who planned a counter-demonstration.
International Lesbian & Gay Association last week urged the European Union to intervene and exert pressure on the Polish government to allow the parade to go forward. (story)
Following today's parade Kaczynski condemned police for not using force to stop the march and for arresting people who tried to disrupt the parade.
"Today, the police undertook to protect an illegal demonstration by gay and lesbian organizations but drastically attacked other illegal gatherings," Kaczynski said in a statement. "This situation constitutes an infringement of the principles of social coexistence."
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Originally Posted by Soonnow
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