Poland’s ruling party fuels anti-lgbt sentiment ahead of elections Big display of security for Pride march in Plock following anti-gay violence

Thousands of Poles flanked by a cordon of police in body armour marched through the city of Plock on Saturday in a display of support for LGBT rights, which have emerged as a deeply divisive topic ahead of a parliamentary election later this year.

Politicians from both sides of Poland’s conservative-liberal divide have labelled the October poll as a clash of civilisations, and in recent months, the ruling Law and Justice party has sought to rally its conservative base by presenting itself as a bulwark against LGBT groups, which it portrays as a threat to Catholic family values.

Tensions spilled over last month, when hooligans chased, beat and hurled bricks and bottles at participants in the first LGBT march in the city of Bialystok in Poland’s conservative east.

To avoid similar violence in the first Pride march since then, police armed with batons, tear gas, and shields flooded into Plock, a city of 120,000 north-west of Warsaw. Organisers said that more than 2,000 people — many waving EU and rainbow flags — joined the march. Several hundred joined counter-pro

tests, shouting abuse and whistling at the marchers. Despite scuffles, police recorded no serious incidents.

Nevertheless, the escalating rhetoric from Law and Justice — which began during the campaign for the European elections in early spring — and the eruption of violence in Bialystok has left many in Poland’s LGBT community deeply unsettled.

“Bialystok and the things that happened around the march were a tipping point in the public discourse regarding LGBTI issues in Poland and this part of Europe as well,” said Slava Melnyk from KPH, a group that campaigns against homophobia.

“Physical violence was very rare, at least in this decade in Poland. Previously there were instances of hate crime violence . . . but to the extent that there was hunting of people and an almost pogrom-like atmosphere, this hasn’t happened before.”

Mr Melnyk’s concerns were echoed by many of those who joined the march in Plock. “I came [to take part] because I am opposed to discrimination and to what happened in Bialystok . . . I don’t want certain groups to feel discriminated against and to be afraid to go on the streets,” said Olga, who travelled from Warsaw to join the march.