:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/AADBZEFJYBHNDP4J64RK2NVNSI.jfif "LGBT+ representatives from Warsaw and kyiv parade together in the Polish capital")
Representatives of the Ukrainian LGBT+ community joined several tens of thousands of participants in the Warsaw Pride Parade on Saturday, in a joint march marking their mutual solidarity and opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The march began with a minute of silence dedicated to the victims of Friday night’s shooting near a gay bar in central Oslo, which led to the cancellation of an LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexuals, queer and others) scheduled for Saturday.
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“Love will prevail. Justice, our fight for equal rights for all and our support for the LGBT+ community is and will continue to be unequivocal.” said the Norwegian ambassador in Warsaw, Anders Eide, at the launch of the march.
A tide of rainbow flags from LGBT+ communities flooded the grand avenues of the center of the Polish capital, splashed this year with the blue and yellow colors of Ukraine.
“We want to remind everyone that for Ukrainian LGBT+ rights to survive, the war must end,” said Lenny Emson, head of kyiv Pride, which cannot take place due to security concerns.
The images of the march in Warsaw, organized under the patronage of the liberal mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, and in the presence of the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, contrast with the political and legal context in Poland which, according to a recent report by the international NGO ILGA Europe -which brings together more than 600 LGBT+ associations from 54 countries in Europe and Asia-, is considered the most closed country to sexual minorities in the European Union.
In 2020, ILGA Europe placed Poland ranked 44th out of 49 countries with respect to respecting LGBT+ rights. Ukraine took the 39th position.
In the capital of kyiv, dozens of members of the LGBT+ community gathered at a nightclub in the city center.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
