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The police in Poznań today briefly detained and interrogated 65 demonstrators during the March of Equality organized by organizations of leftist and gay activists in Poznań, western Poland.
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The march was banned by the mayor of Poznań, who cited security reasons. A year earlier, a similar legal event led to street riots with far-right activists.
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Riot police surrounded the demonstrators shortly after they began their march. 65 demonstrators, who sat on the street, were pulled out of the crowd, detained, and interrogated at police stations.

“They were dragging us around on the street,” a demonstrator ...[said.]

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(QD) Recently, we told you about the Gay and Lesbian Equality Parade being banned in Poznan, Poland. You might recall local authorities claiming it would "be a serious danger to social order and property." Well here are some photos from the police intervention.

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Polish LGBT civil rights groups, bolstered by support from gays throughout Europe, will stage demonstrations this Sunday in a number of cities to protest growing signs the government is planning a major crackdown on gay rights.

The announcement of the protests came as gays in London were demonstrating against a visit by Poland's new Prime Minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.

Marcinkiewicz's meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair was delayed so that Marcinkiewicz could avoid the demonstrators and enter Chatham House through a rear door.

Outside, members of the Greens, OutRage and the European Region of the International Lesbian & Gay Association staged a noisy rally demanding that Poland live up to the European Charter which promises human rights for gays and lesbians.

[...]

As the meeting and protest were going on in London, Polish gays in Warsaw were announcing that peaceful demonstrations would be held this weekend in lblag, GdaDsk , Krakow, Lodz and Warsaw, to show solidarity for the gay community in Poznan.

Authorities in GdaDsk, the city where Lech Walesa founded the Solidarity movement, immediately banned the march. However, in nearby Elblag, the Mayor1s spokesperson Agnieszka Staszewska said that permission for a demonstration at 6 pm on Sunday had been granted.

The only other city to approve a demonstration is Krakow where the city1s moderate mayor, Jacek Majchrowski, said he was not going to ban it as a ban would be contrary to the country's constitution. In Warsaw, no decision has yet been announced.

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[ 25 November 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]

[ 26 November 2005: Message edited by: Ghost of the Navigator ]

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(Warsaw) Dozens of gay rights activists braved near freezing temperatures and heavy rain to march through the streets of Krakow Saturday - part of a weekend blitz of Polish cities - to demand the government abide by European civil rights laws.

Carrying signs saying "Reanimation of democracy" and "We are all different, we are all humans" the marchers denounced last weekend's mass arrests of gays in the city of Poznan, where riot police detailed 65 gays and lesbians who refused to disband when they attempted to hold a gay pride march.

[...]

An LGBT rights march is planned in Warsaw today. Kaczynski is still the mayor until December 22.  

Other marches are planned for Gdansk and Lodz. Gdansk was the birthplace of the Solidarity trade union movement that led to the downfall of Communism in Poland. The local Solidarity chapter backed has backed today's protest.

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[ 27 November 2005: Message edited by: Hephaestion ]

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(QD) Gay rights demonstrations were held this weekend in several Polish cities, and many of these events were attended by politicians, artists, and people well-recognized in the fight for human rights and democracy in the country. Ironically, the gay rights rallies protested the attempts by the new right-wing government to ban gay rights demonstrations. In the southern city of Krakow, protesters even braved pouring rain and freezing temperatures to gather in the city center, accusing the ruling Law and Justice party of homophobia and violating the democratic right to assembly. "This is our cry for freedom. Freedom for everyone," said Samuel Nowak, a protestor in Krawkow.

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