Group declares gay bar demo a success
A demonstration against the closure of a political, cultural and gay club was labelled a “big political success” by organisers yesterday.
Around 1000 people including political and cultural figures, as well as gay groups, turned up to oppose the closure of Le Madame in Warsaw, Poland.
The building, which has been purchased by Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski, who is known for his anti gay views is also used by the Polish Green Party.
Mr Kaczynski along with his brother, Jaroslav, has no plans to keep the property as a gay bar or Green Party office.
The protest was attended by Magda Środa, the former minister of Equal Status of Men and Woman in last government, Professor Maria Szyszkowska, former MP and a Nobel Peace Prize candidate
Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP and a member of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights, expressed her concern over the ongoing anti-gay policies permeating Poland: “Such behaviour from the Polish authorities is quite unbelievable in a modern Europe The ongoing violence that surrounds the discriminatory treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in Poland is particularly worrying and simply unacceptable. It further proves that the LGBT communities and those using Le Madame are losing their freedom of speech.”
Last month 200 protestors blockaded themselves inside the club aiming to preserve the “haven of left wing thought.”