The first ever-Europride parade in this part of Europe marched through Warsaw streets yesterday with about 10,000 taking part.
Police estimate that 8-15,000 people took part in the largest such event in Warsaw's history, only 5 years after Lech Kaczynski, as mayor, did not grant a permit for the annual pride parade to take place.
City police recorded only minor incidents at the event. Nine people were arrested, says police spokesperson Maciej Karczynski.
“Some of these individuals attacked the police officers; one of them was detained for drug possession, whereas other offenders were seized for throwing eggs at the parade,” says Karczynski.
Europride was a huge success, says Adam Biskupiak, from the Equality Foundation, organizer of the event.
“There was no obscene behaviour, no nudity; people were having a great time. There were eleven floats, the participants were dancing and singing to music. The turnout was not as big as we had expected but there were 15,000 people according to unofficial estimates, and we think this is quite a good figure, considering the fact that the parade was held in Poland,” stated Biskupiak.
This was the first time Europride was held in Central and Eastern Europe and participants came from Holland, Germany, Switzerland, France, the UK, the US, Russia and from various other countries around the world to march with Poland's lesbian/gay/transgender/ally community. (aba/mmj)
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