Organizers behind Poland's 17th
annual Equality Parade say Saturday's event set a new attendance
record with 50,000 participants.
Police in Warsaw, however, gave a much
lower attendance figure, estimated at 13,000.
Mostly Roman Catholic Poland is the
largest nation in the EU to offer no protections for gay and lesbian
couples and one of seven in the 28-member bloc to define marriage as
a heterosexual union in its constitution.
Demonstrators carrying balloons and
rainbow flags marched and danced down the streets of central Warsaw
to protest the government's opposition to civil unions and marriage
for gay couples.
Police removed several members of
right-wing groups opposed to LGBT rights who attempted to disrupt the
march.
According
to DW, a woman protested the parade with a sign that read, “Men
who live with each other, will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The Warsaw Palace of Culture was
illuminated in rainbow colors to celebrate the event.