Thousands of people marched in Berlin and Warsaw on Saturday in support of LGBT rights on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENTThousands of people marched in Berlin and Warsaw on Saturday in support of LGBT rights.
In Berlin, thousands of locals took to the streets to celebrate the 2019 Pride parade.
In Warsaw, over 1,000 people gathered for a protest against violence against the LGBT community that took place during the first pride march in Bialystok last week.
In Berlin, rainbow flags and placards with messages of love and tolerance swayed as participants in colourful outfits made their way through the German capital.
Some of the participants stressed that taking part in the event matters in the ongoing fight for LGBT rights.
"One can say much is different nowadays, such as one can get married, but there are still homophobic attacks so not all is perfect," Berlin resident Dan told Reuters.
Berlin's pride parade is known as the Christopher Street Day Parade, a name which arose out of the Stonewall riots that occurred on Christopher Street in New York's Greenwich Village neighbourhood in 1969. This year's event marked 50 years since the Stonewall riots.
Homophobic attacks are still a reality in Poland, as last Saturday's events in Bialystok showed. People attending the city's pride parade were attacked by men shouting anti-LGBT insults.
Those who gathered in Warsaw on Saturday in solidarity with Bialystok waved LGBT rainbow flags and carried rainbow umbrellas.
Police have detained over 30 people in connection with the violence while politicians, including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, have condemned the attacks.
Read more: Polish police arrest several people after attacks on first LGBT march
Several politicians of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party have also made LGBT rights a campaign issue ahead of parliamentary elections expected in October, arguing pride marches promote unnecessary public displays of sexuality.
A Warsaw court this week put a temporary hold on the distribution of "LGBT-free zone" stickers distributed by a Polish conservative magazine.
"I am here because of what happened in Bialystok and because of the 'LGBT-free zone' stickers," said Amelia Rae, a 15-year-old student, told Reuters. "If something is going to change than the government needs to change."
Warsaw held one of its largest pride marches to date earlier this year, with tens of thousands of participants.
