Poland: Official Homophobia Threatens Basic Freedoms


(New York, June 5, 2006) - Recent threats by Polish officials against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists and organizations threaten everyone's basic freedoms, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Kasimierz Marcinkiewicz. Poland's State Prosecutor has reportedly instructed local prosecutors to launch investigations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations and their "pedophilic actions." Human Rights Watch said that anti-gay actions and comments by numerous officials constitute a pattern of repression in Poland.

"Poland's leaders have stoked the fires of homophobic hatred to advance their political careers," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "The continuing calls to restrict a minority's basic freedoms threaten the fabric of democracy."

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LOS ALTOS 
300 march in gay pride parade organized by high school group

Downtown Los Altos was awash in rainbow-colored flags, balloons and leis Sunday afternoon as hundreds of participants in the city's controversial first Gay Pride Parade marched through its typically quiet streets.
Police and organizers estimated that more than 300 people -- including a gay and lesbian square dancing group and members of the Los Altos High School Gay-Straight Alliance, which spearheaded the parade -- walked the eight-block route. A sparse but exuberant crowd of supporters lined the sidewalks and provided non-stop applause.