Poland: Thousands march against anti-LGBTQ hate, and to demand justice for 48 detained protesters
In Warsaw and other cities in Poland, crowds gathered Saturday to protest anti-LGBT discrimination and abuse promoted by the Polish government, as well as the recent detention of a prominent transgender activist.
#PolandPolish police detain 48 protesting LGBT activist's arrest. Janek Skarzynski #AFP pic.twitter.com/B1jI4pYsuf
— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) August 8, 2020
This is how police in Poland dealt with peaceful LGBTI+ protestors yesterday. There is deafening silence from @vonderleyen @helenadalli. If the EU does not act when citizens are being physically attacked by member states then it ceases to have any legitimacy. Act. NOW. pic.twitter.com/63fH84HuGj
— Steve Taylor (@danophile) August 8, 2020
From the Associated Press:
Read the restYou will not lock all of us up! people chanted at a protest in Warsaw that drew thousands of mostly young people. Most wore masks for the coronavirus pandemic. Similar protests took place in Krakow, Lublin, Wroclaw and other places.
The protests came a day after LGBT rights supporters in Warsaw scuffled with police who arrested a transgender activist, Malgorzata Szutowicz, known best as Margot. Police said they detained 48 people, while activists said police used rough tactics against them.
The police were aggressively pushing the protesters out of the way, knocking people to the ground and holding them down with their boots, said the Campaign Against Homophobia, a Warsaw-based group.
The protests come amid an intensifying standoff in Poland between the LGBT rights movement and the conservative government, which has declared it an alien, dangerous ideology. President Andrzej Duda, who was sworn in for a second term Thursday, won re-election on a strong anti-LGBT platform, and social tensions have been rising.
Original Link: https://boingboing.net/2020/08/08/poland-thousands-march-agains.html