Parada Równości is an LGBT communitypride parade held in Warsaw since 2001, usually in May or June. It has attracted at least several thousand attendees each year; 20,000 attendees were reported in 2006, following an official ban in 2004 and 2005. In 2018, there were 45,000 attendees. In 2019, there were 50,000 attendees. It is the largest gay pride parade in Central and Eastern Europe, and has been described as "the first Europewide gay pride parade held in a former Communist bloc country". Support for the parade is slowly growing in Poland; with the 2005 event supported by 33% of the Warsaw inhabitants, and 2010, by 45%.
Goals
The organizers of the parade want to promote social equality in general, and draw attention to the problems faced by the LGBT community in Poland. Its organizers, including Szymon Niemiec, stress that the parade is meant to highlight not only the LGBT movement, but the rights issues of all minorities.
History
Though efforts toward an LGBT parade in Poland were made at least as early as 1998, Poland's first successful parade, in Warsaw, was organized in 2001 through the efforts of gay rights activist Szymon Niemiec. The second and third parades were held in 2002 and 2003. That year there were some 300 marchers. The 2002 parade was estimated to have at least 1500 attendees, and the 2003 event attracted about 3000. In 2004 and 2005 officials denied permission for the parades, citing the likelihood of counter-demonstrations, interference with religious or national holidays, lack of a permit, and other reasons. The parades were vocally opposed by conservative Law and Justice party's Lech Kaczyński who said that allowing an official gay pride event in Warsaw would promote a homosexual lifestyle. In protest, a different event, Wiec Wolności, was organized in Warsaw in 2004, and was estimated to have drawn 600 to 1000 attendees. In response to the 2005 ban, about 2500 people marched on 11 June of that year, an act of civil disobedience that led to several brief arrests. The 2006 parade was held without official interference, and is estimated to have gathered about 20,000 attendees. In May 2007the ban has been declared discriminatory and illegal by the European Court of Human Rights' Bączkowski v. Poland ruling. That month, the 2007 parade gathered about 4000 attendees. The 2008 march attracted "several thousands" again, and the 2009, "over 2000". In 2010 the event was not held, as Warsaw hosted the international EuroPride event, drawing about 8.000 crowd. This event was organized privately and required an entrance fee, which was the cause of controversy. The parades have been organized annually since, and attendance has grown substantially over the years, from about 4000 to 6000 attendees in 2011, 18,000 in 2015, to about 45,000 attendees in the 2018 parade. On 8 June 2019, around 50,000 marched in the event. MayorRafał Trzaskowski participated in the event. In total, there were 27 locales in Poland that held equality marches between April and October 2019, including Koszalin, Gniezno, Łódź, Bydgoszcz, Kraków, Gdańsk, Zielona Góra, Warsaw, Olsztyn, Częstochowa, Rzeszów, Opole, Poznań, Kielce, Białystok, Płock, Radomsko, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Katowice, Konin, Szczecin, Toruń, Kalisz, Lublin, Elbląg, Wrocław, and Nowy Sącz. A recurring demand of the parade is the recognition of same-sex unions in Poland.
Confrontation
Equality marches frequently attract counter-protests, which have occasionally turned violent. In 2019, a violent encounter took place during the inaugural equality march in Białystok, when thousands of counter-protesters – including far-right activists and ultra football fans – hurled rocks, bottles, and fireworks at the crowd of 1,000 marchers. The violence injured dozens of participants and quickly drew international media attention. Amnesty International condemned the lack of police protection, claiming local authorities had “failed to respond to instances of violence” against the marchers. Subsequently, 25 counter-protesters were arrested for attacking participants and provoking the police. Clashes also erupted before a march was scheduled to take place in the city of Lublin in 2019. While the mayor of the city had previously attempted to ban the march – citing security concerns – the Court of Appeals upheld the decision to permit the event. While no individuals sustained serious injuries, anti-LGBT protesters threw eggs and shouted insults at the marchers. By the end of the event, local police officers had detained at least 30 counter-protesters for antagonizing the march. Other LGBT marches have progressed peacefully, such as the first-ever equality march in Płock in 2019.
