Poland: Thousands march against anti-LGBTQ hate, and to demand justice for 48 detained protesters

In Warsaw and other cities in Poland, crowds gathered Saturday to protest anti-LGBT discrimination and abuse promoted by the Polish government, as well as the recent detention of a prominent transgender activist.

From the Associated Press:

"You will not lock all of us up!" people chanted at a protest in Warsaw that drew thousands of mostly young people. Most wore masks for the coronavirus pandemic. Similar protests took place in Krakow, Lublin, Wroclaw and other places.

The protests came a day after LGBT rights supporters in Warsaw scuffled with police who arrested a transgender activist, Malgorzata Szutowicz, known best as "Margot." Police said they detained 48 people, while activists said police used rough tactics against them.

"The police were aggressively pushing the protesters out of the way, knocking people to the ground and holding them down with their boots," said the Campaign Against Homophobia, a Warsaw-based group.

The protests come amid an intensifying standoff in Poland between the LGBT rights movement and the conservative government, which has declared it an alien, dangerous "ideology." President Andrzej Duda, who was sworn in for a second term Thursday, won re-election on a strong anti-LGBT platform, and social tensions have been rising.

More at the AP:
Protesters decry government's anti-LGBT attitudes in Poland