Equality Parade (Warsaw)

The organizers of the parade want to promote social equality in general,

and draw attention to the problems faced by the LGBT community in Poland.

Its organizers, including Szymon Niemiec (who founded the event in 2001), stress that the parade is meant to highlight not only the LGBT movement, but the rights issues of all minorities.{{cite book|author=Szymon Niemiec|title=Rainbow Humming Bird on the Butt|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=45QtWodAOYoC&pg=PA131|date=October 2009|publisher=Szymon Niemiec|isbn=978-83-924191-0-5|page=131}}

Though efforts toward an LGBT parade in Poland were made at least as early as 1998,{{cite book|author=Howard L. Hughes|title=Pink Tourism: Holidays of Gay Men and Lesbians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rWIZdCXwHcC&pg=PA148|year=2006|publisher=CABI|isbn=978-1-84593-119-3|page=148}}

Poland's first successful parade, in Warsaw, was organized in 2001 through the efforts of gay rights activist Szymon Niemiec.{{cite web |url=http://paradarownosci.eu/krotka-historia-parady-rownosci |title=Krótka historia Parady Równości | Parada Równości |publisher=Paradarownosci.eu |access-date=2014-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508042645/http://paradarownosci.eu/krotka-historia-parady-rownosci |archive-date=2014-05-08 |url-status=dead }}

The second and third parades were held in 2002 and 2003.

That year there were some 300 marchers.{{cite book|author1=Manon Tremblay|author2=Carol Johnson|author3=David Paternotte|title=The Lesbian and Gay Movement and the State: Comparative Insights Into a Transformed Relationship|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_abizIwjU8YC&pg=PA125|year=2011|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-1-4094-1067-6|page=125}} The 2002 parade was estimated to have at least 1500 attendees,{{cite web|url=http://queer.pl/artykul/185904/parada-rownosci-2002-fotogaleria |title=Parada Równości 2002: Fotogaleria - Artykuły |publisher=queer.pl |date=2002-07-22 |access-date=2014-05-07}} and the 2003 event attracted about 3000.{{cite web|url=http://kobiety-kobietom.com/naszasprawa/art.php?art=146&nadtytul=Warszawa:%20Parada%20R%F3wno%B6ci&t=Parada%20R%F3wno%B6ci%202003 |title=Parada Równości 2003 |publisher=Kobiety-kobietom.com |access-date=2014-05-07}}

In 2004 and 2005, officials denied permission for the parades, citing the likelihood of counter-demonstrations, interference with religious or national holidays, lack of a permit, and other reasons.{{cite web|url=http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?date=2005/05/20/4&navpath=/channels/pride/|publisher=Gay,com|date=20 May 2005|title=Polish capital bans Pride again|last=Townley|first=Ben|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313155353/http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?date=2005%2F05%2F20%2F4&navpath=%2Fchannels%2Fpride%2F|archive-date=13 March 2007|url-status=dead}} The parades were vocally opposed by conservative Law and Justice party's Lech Kaczyński (at the time mayor of Warsaw and later president of Poland) who said that allowing an official gay pride event in Warsaw would promote a homosexual lifestyle.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4084324.stm Gay marchers ignore ban in Warsaw], BBC News Online, 11 June 2005

In protest, a different event, Wiec Wolności ("Freedom Veche"), was organized in Warsaw in 2004, and was estimated to have drawn 600 to 1,000 attendees.{{cite web |date=2010-11-02 |url=http://mediateka.ngo.pl/x/515926;jsessionid=4D6F43307A2A45CF7DC0E17146F3CFA8 |title=Wiec Wolności |publisher=Mediateka.ngo.pl |access-date=2014-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508025454/http://mediateka.ngo.pl/x/515926;jsessionid=4D6F43307A2A45CF7DC0E17146F3CFA8 |archive-date=2014-05-08 |url-status=dead }} In response to the 2005 ban, about 2,500 people marched on 11 June of that year, an act of civil disobedience that led to several brief arrests.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4084324.stm |title=Europe | Gay marchers ignore ban in Warsaw |work=BBC News |date=2005-06-11 |access-date=2014-05-07}} Tomasz Bączkowski, Tomasz Szypuła and Yga Kostrzewa also challenged this decision at the European Court of Human Rights with support from the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights. The court found that in the case of Bączkowski and Others v. Poland that the ban was an infringement of freedom of assembly under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.{{Cite web |date=2012-02-06 |title=Polish gay activists win human rights case |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206141723/http://www.poland.pl/news/article,Polish_gay_activists_win_human_rights_case,id,273489.htm |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=Poland.pl}}{{Cite web |date=2007-05-03 |title=Warsaw Pride ban broke Euro convention |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2007/05/03/warsaw-pride-ban-broke-euro-convention/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=PinkNews |language=en-US}}

The 2006 parade was held without official interference, and is estimated to have gathered about 20,000 attendees.{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1341353,2677,kioskart.html |title=ĹšwiÄ™to róşnorodnoĹ›ci - Kiosk - Onet.pl WiadomoĹ›ci - 12.06.2006 |date=2008-06-16 |access-date=2014-05-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080616163735/http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/1341353,2677,kioskart.html |archive-date=June 16, 2008}}{{cite news |last=Easton |first=Adam |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5068318.stm |title=Europe | Fears of Poland's gay community |work=BBC News |date=2006-06-10 |access-date=2014-05-07}} In May 2007 the ban has been declared discriminatory and illegal by the European Court of Human Rights' Bączkowski v. Poland ruling.{{cite web|url=http://www.poland.pl/news/article,Polish_gay_activists_win_human_rights_case,id,273489.htm |title=Polish gay activists win human rights case |date=2007-05-04 |access-date=2014-05-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206141723/http://www.poland.pl/news/article,Polish_gay_activists_win_human_rights_case,id,273489.htm |archive-date=February 6, 2012 }} That month, the 2007 parade gathered about 4000 attendees.{{cite web|url=http://fakty.interia.pl/mazowieckie/news-warszawa-zakonczyla-sie-parada-rownosci,nId,1132156 |title=Warszawa: Zakończyła się Parada Równości |publisher=fakty.interia.pl |access-date=2014-05-07}}

The 2008 march attracted "several thousands" again,{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114873,5288705,Parada_Rownosci_na_ulicach_Warszawy.html |title=Parada Równości na ulicach Warszawy |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |access-date=2014-05-07}} and the 2009, "over 2,000".{{cite web|url=http://kobiety-kobietom.com/news/art.php?art=6185 |title=Parada Równości 2009 |publisher=Kobiety-kobietom.com |access-date=2014-05-07}} In 2010 the event was not held, as Warsaw hosted the international EuroPride event, drawing a crowd of around 8,000.{{cite web|url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114873,8149340,Ok__8_tys__osob_na_paradzie_EuroPride_2010.html |title=Ok. 8 tys. osób na paradzie EuroPride 2010 |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |date=2010-07-17 |access-date=2014-05-07}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/19/poland-gay-pride-warsaw |title=Warsaw's gay pride reveals the face of modern Poland | Kamil Tchorek | Comment is free |publisher=theguardian.com |date=2012-06-28 |access-date=2014-05-07}} This event was organized privately and required an entrance fee, which was the cause of controversy.

The parades have been organized annually since, and attendance has grown substantially over the years, from about 4000 to 6000 attendees in 2011,{{cite web |url=http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114873,9765999,Parada_Rownosci___Chrystus_dolaczylby_do_nas___zawsze.html |title=Parada Równości. 'Chrystus dołączyłby do nas - zawsze był z potrzebującymi' [WIDEO] |language=pl |publisher=Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl |access-date=2014-05-07 |archive-date=2014-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508061428/http://wiadomosci.gazeta.pl/wiadomosci/1,114873,9765999,Parada_Rownosci___Chrystus_dolaczylby_do_nas___zawsze.html |url-status=dead }} 18,000 in 2015,{{cite web |url=http://en.paradarownosci.eu/a-brief-history-of-equality-parade |title=A brief history of Equality Parade | Equality Parade |publisher=En.paradarownosci.eu |access-date=2014-05-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508042731/http://en.paradarownosci.eu/a-brief-history-of-equality-parade |archive-date=8 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }}{{Cite web|title = Parada Równości 2015, czyli Równe prawa - wspólna sprawa [WIDEO]|url = http://polska.newsweek.pl/parada-rownosci-2015-srodowiska-lgbt-w-warszawie,film,364999.html|website = Newsweek.pl|access-date = 2016-02-01|language = pl-PL|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160202000048/http://polska.newsweek.pl/parada-rownosci-2015-srodowiska-lgbt-w-warszawie,film,364999.html|archive-date = 2016-02-02|url-status = dead}} to about 45,000 attendees in the 2018 parade.{{Cite web |url = https://oko.press/45-tysiecy-osob-w-paradzie-walczymy-o-siebie-o-naszych-przyjaciol-o-nasze-dzieci-relacje-pieknych-uczestnikow-zdjecia/ |title=45 tysięcy osób w Paradzie Równości. "Walczymy o siebie, o naszych przyjaciół, o nasze dzieci". Relacje pięknych uczestników |website = oko.press |access-date = 2018-06-10 |language = pl-PL}}{{cite web |url=http://www.paradarownosci.eu/pl/partnerzy/ |title=Partnerzy |website=paradarownosci.eu |access-date=2018-06-10 |language=pl-PL |archive-date=2018-06-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606182747/http://www.paradarownosci.eu/pl/partnerzy/ |url-status=dead }} On 8 June 2019, around 50,000 marched in the event. Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski participated in the event twice as well as granted the festival city patronate.{{cite news| url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-lgbt-parade/warsaw-pride-parade-attracts-large-crowd-amid-heated-political-debate-idUSKCN1T90KP| title = Warsaw pride parade attracts large crowd amid heated political debate| newspaper = Reuters| date = 8 June 2019}} Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the parade was called off. It rebooted on 19 June 2021, and again, the mayor Rafał Trzaskowski participated in the event, granting the parade city hall patronage. Although no accurate number of participants was officially announced, selected media stated that there were "thousands" present at the event.{{Cite web|first=Alan|last=Charlish|date=2021-06-19|title=Poland: thousands turn out for Warsaw Pride march|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/19/poland-thousands-turn-out-for-warsaw-pride-march|access-date=2021-07-06|website=The Guardian|language=en}} In 2022, the march was held alongside KyivPride, which, due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine causing many Ukrainians to flee the country and Russian aerial bombing campaigns, could not hold an event in the city. In addition to LGBT rights, the march also focused on supporting Ukraine and calling for peace.{{cite web|access-date=2022-06-27|title=With war, Kyiv pride parade becomes a peace march in Warsaw|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-politics-parades-69cdb83e3296238c7ea27ebd307ebf10|date=25 June 2022|website=AP NEWS}}

A recurring demand of the parade is the recognition of same-sex unions in Poland.{{cite web |url=http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/138703,Equality-Parade-calls-for-civil-partnerships-in-Poland |title=Equality Parade calls for civil partnerships in Poland - National |publisher=Thenews.pl |date=2013-06-16 |access-date=2014-05-07 |archive-date=2014-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508025834/http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/138703,Equality-Parade-calls-for-civil-partnerships-in-Poland |url-status=dead }}{{cite web|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/06/17/polands-only-gay-mp-attacked-after-equality-parade/ |title=Poland's only gay MP attacked after Equality Parade · |publisher=Pinknews.co.uk |date=2013-06-17 |access-date=2014-05-07}}

• Tęcza (Warsaw)
• Warsaw Gay Movement

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|Equality Parade}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140508042731/http://en.paradarownosci.eu/a-brief-history-of-equality-parade A brief history of Equality Parade]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160820080033/http://poland.nlembassy.org/news/2013/06/open-letter-equality-parade-2013.html Open letter Equality Parade 2013]

{{Pride parades}}

{{LGBT in Poland}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:LGBTQ rights in Poland

Category:LGBTQ history in Poland

Category:Recurring events established in 2001

Category:2001 establishments in Poland

Category:Events in Warsaw

Category:Equality marches in Poland