Hate crime, violence and arrests. These are some of the issues the LGBTQ+ population in Poland are facing and why a demonstration in support of the community will take place in Bristol.
'YOU WILL NEVER WALK ALONE: Stand In Solidarity With LGBTQ+ Community In Poland' is taking place tonight (Tuesday, August 18) at 6pm at College Green in the city centre.
Organisers say the demonstration comes in response a deteriorating situation for the Polish LGBTQ+ over the past five years.
Poland does not currently recognise same-sex unions - whether those are marriages or civil unions - and same-sex couples are also legally banned from adopting children.
The Polish president Andrzej Duda has said the LGBT movement was "more destructive" than communism, according to BBC reports.
Poland does not currently recognise same-sex unions - whether those are marriages or civil unions. Same-sex couples are also legally banned from adopting children.
Agnieszka Kowalska, a mum-of-two from the St Anne's Park area of Bristol who has lived in the UK for 20 years, is one of the co-organisers of tonight's demonstration.
The 41-year-old who works as a junior academic said: "The situation is going backwards [in Poland] - I remember in my early teens we were fighting and recovering our rights to have a voice as individuals.
"This is the time for us to rise and stand up, to say it is not ok to attack gender rights or LGBTQ communities - it is about fundamental human rights which are being attacked on many different levels in Poland.
"I feel angry, but I also feel ready to stand up."
The organisers wrote on their Facebook event the demonstration comes after dozens of people were arrested in Warsaw last week after the police executed a court order granting the pre-trial detention of a member of a queer collective.
They say: "The unrest in Warsaw on the 8th saw shocking levels of police violence, even for the new standards in Poland.
"Witnesses reported that the police threw people around 'like a bag of potatoes', detained random individuals, apparently including non-involved passers-by, injured many others, kneeled on peoples’ necks, kettled the demo, and snatched people from the crowd.
"Forty-eight people were detained."
The event organisers added: "The situation of the Polish LGBTQ+ community has been steadily deteriorating over the past five years of right-wing rule.
"The current government has been practising homophobic rhetoric that resulted in the rise of hate crime directly targeted towards the LGBTQ+ community and, according to ILGA [International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association], Poland is the most homophobic EU country."
Organisers say activists are being arrested for putting up a rainbow flag, among others
They say: "Under Duda’s rule [Poland's president], nearly 80 Polish municipalities declared themselves 'LGBT-free zones' last year.
"These zones promote intolerance and create hostile and violent environments for LGBTIQ people, undermining basic human rights, and yet an ever-growing number of places around Poland continue to declare themselves as such."
