tThousands of people campaign for equality for homosexuals at a pride parade in Warsaw. It is estimated that around 20,000 people marched through the Polish capital on Saturday, accompanied by rainbow flags and music. The police and city administration did not provide any information about the number of participants.

Warsaw’s liberal mayor, Rafal Trzakowski, supports the “equality march”, which had to be canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s a place where everyone is smiling and there’s no aggression,” Trzaskowski said.

A spokesman for the organizers complained about the deteriorating condition of the LGBT community in Poland under the national conservative government. But as a community you move forward together and feel stronger as a result.

Strictly Catholic Poland has been repeatedly criticized for its discrimination against sexual minorities. The right-wing ruling party PiS regularly denounces an alleged “LGTBI ideology” nurtured by Brussels “Eurocrats” and directed against Polish traditions and values. The English abbreviation LGBT means lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.