'We have the power': Poles march for LGBTQ+ rights in Gdansk

29/5/2022 6:22

        Thousands of Poles marched to demand an end to homophobia on Saturday, as the northern port city of Gdansk hosted its seventh annual Equality March under the slogan "We have the power".
        
        Waving the rainbow flags of the LGBTQ+ community and the blue, pink and white transgender flag, the marchers made their way through the city holding placards with slogans like "We make love not war" and "Jesus would walk with us".
        
        According to a police spokeswoman around 7,500 people took part.
        
        Gay rights are a highly divisive issue in predominantly Catholic Poland, and the country's ruling nationalists have made battling what they term LGBTQ+ "ideology" a key plank of election campaigns in recent years.
        
        Religious conservatives are bitterly opposed to what they say is an ideology bent on undermining the traditional family, while more liberal Poles say such attitudes result in widespread discrimination.