quote:
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.”
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posted 12 June 2005 08:39 AM
My only regret is that this didn't happen *before* that homophobic asshat, Karol Wojtyla, croaked.
