Watch: First Plock Pride parade in Poland takes place without major incidents

Watch: First Plock Pride parade in Poland takes place without major incidents
Copyright Agencja Gazeta/Jedrzej Nowicki via REUTERS
By Sinead Barry with AP
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Poland's ruling PiS (Law and Justice) party have been using LGBT issues as leverage ahead of the upcoming general election in October.

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The first LGBT Pride march in Plock, central Poland took place on Saturday with no major incidents reported.

The parade came just three weeks after homophobic violence occurred at the Bialystok march in the eastern part of the country. Far-right radicals attacked marchers at this parade on July 20, throwing firecrackers, glass bottles and rocks.

Saturday's march was escorted by a large number of police officers to ensure that the violence would not be repeated.

Poland's ruling PiS (Law and Justice) party have been using LGBT issues as leverage ahead of the upcoming general election in October. Members of the LGBT community have been depicted as threats to Polish society, which is largely Catholic and conservative.

The Catholic Church has also played a part in this anti-gay rhetoric. Recently, the archbishop condemned the gay rights movement as a "rainbow plague."

Despite this deep tension in Poland, around 2,500 activists gathered in Plock sporting rainbow flags. Many carried posters demanding "freedom, equality, tolerance."

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Video editor • Christophe Pitiot

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