The Campaign Against Homophobia group is preparing a supplementary Valentine's Day event in the form of the V Festival of Different Rights to Love.

The event, which will be hosted in Warsaw, will run from 9 - 15th February. The programme includes debates, film screenings, fashion shows and art exhibitions.

Amongst the topics proposed for discussion are the current status of gays in the armed forces both in Poland and internationally, the concept of civil partnerships as well as the position of Warsaw's gay scene in relation to the city's bid to be European Capital of Culture in 2012.

In July last year, Warsaw became the first city in the former Eastern Bloc to host the annual EuroPride March, an event that caused some controversy.

Gay rights continue to be a sensitive subject in Poland. The relatively sudden emergence of the movement after 1989 proved a shock to many, a factor which is occasionally seized upon by politicians.

Present for Valentine?

Meanwhile, sex dolls, vibrators and pheromones are the most popular sex items bought by Poles in internet erotic shops, shows new research.

Married couples and people living in civil partnerships are the most common customers at e-erotic shops, shows a report by Ceneo.pl, a popular shopping website.

As many as 37 percent of those who took marriage vows and 42 percent of those who prefer informal partnerships visited sex shop web sites to buy sex toys. Only 13 percent of singles did internet sex shopping.

Out of 30,000 sex items, Polish women chose mainly vibrators and men sex dolls. Erotic lingerie and pheromones were also popular. The sale of porn films, on the other hand, dropped as it is easy to find them online.

Internet erotic shops are thriving especially before Saint Valentine’s Day. A report by sexologists Professor Zbigniew Izdebski shows that 42.8 percent of Polish internet users use sex toys to spice up their sex life. (nh/mg)