LGBTQ rights marches turns violent as thousands march in “Polish Stonewall”

Police drag away a man protesting after an LGBTQ activist was arrested for hanging a pride flag on a statue of Jesus
Photo: Screenshot

Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Warsaw and other Polish cities over the weekend in what is being dubbed “Polish Stonewall” after police attacked the crowds, arresting dozens while several other activists are missing.

Protesters condemned President Andrzej Duda’s nonstop vicious attacks on the LGBTQ community and demanded police release Malgorzata Szutowicz, a transgender activist detained for hanging a rainbow flag from a statue of Jesus.

Related: Gay couple hands out rainbow face masks in Poland’s “LGBT-free zones”

“Give us Margot back!” protesters chanted. “You will not lock all of us up!”

Police arrested approximately 50 people on Friday.

“The police were aggressively pushing the protesters out of the way, knocking people to the ground and holding them down with their boots,” the Campaign Against Homophobia, a Warsaw-based group, told the Associated Press.

Polish lawmakers protested Duda’s inauguration by wearing rainbow-colored outfits and arranging themselves to form the pride flag during the ceremony. They also wore rainbow-colored masks.

Duda won reelection by demonizing LGBTQ people and campaigning against adoption and marriage rights. The phrase…

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