Tag Archives: Poland

The Associated Press reports: Polish police used tear gas and a water cannon Saturday against right-wing extremists who were trying to block the first equality parade in the city of Lublin in eastern Poland. More than 1,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists with rainbow-colored flags and banners gathered Saturday in Lublin for the parade, while around 300 right-wing …

The Washington Post reports: The Polish government did everything it could to turn Tuesday’s visit into one of Trump’s more enjoyable moments. Yet, somehow, Trump managed to offend the Poles so deeply that the fallout was all over Polish news sites on Wednesday morning. What happened? At the end of their meeting, the two leaders agreed to sign a strategic …

Politico reports: U.S. President Donald Trump is “very seriously” considering Warsaw’s request for a permanent U.S. military base in Poland, he said on Tuesday. Speaking at a joint press conference with Andrzej Duda in Washington D.C., Trump said the security of the Central European country was “almost as important” to him as to the Polish president. “Poland is willing to …

CBS News reports: President Trump is meeting with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda at the White House Tuesday. This is Duda’s first official visit to the White House since Trump took office. The two are expected to discuss trade, the military and security, according to the White House. Poland’s First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda is also visiting the White House. The two …

The Associated Press reports: A few dozen right-wing extremists have blocked a gay rights march on its route to Poland’s holiest Catholic shrine while the prime minister was attending an event at the religious site. About 1,000 people with rainbow-colored banners and umbrellas were heading toward the Jasna Gora shrine in the southern city of Czestochowa when they came across …

Gay Star News reports: Poland’s first openly gay mayor, might just become the country’s first ever openly gay president. Robert Biedroń is throwing his hat in the presidential campaign ahead of a national vote in 2020. Even though the election is a few years away, recent polls show one in every four Poles is willing to vote for Biedroń. This …

The Catholic Herald reports: Polish MPs have approved a bill that will phase out Sunday shopping by 2020. The Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament, passed the bill by 254 to 156 to restrict Sunday shopping to the first and last Sunday of the month until the end of 2018, only on the last Sunday in the month in …

The Associated Press reports: Tens of thousands of nationalists marched in a demonstration organized by far-right groups in Warsaw Saturday, as Poles celebrated their country’s Independence Day. But the march has become the largest Independence Day event in recent years, overshadowing official state observances and other patriotic events. Some participants expressed sympathy for xenophobic or white supremacist ideas, with one …

Via Raw Story: President Donald Trump on Thursday reached out to shake the hand of Agata Kornhauser-Duda, the wife of Polish President Andrzej Duda, but he was rejected. Video shows Trump shaking Duda’s hand before reaching out to his wife. But Kornhauser-Duda walks right past the president to shake the hand of Melania Trump. Lol pic.twitter.com/KpAUObihVR — Billy Howell (@CoachBilly1) …

At a joint press conference this morning with the Polish president, Trump fielded a question from the Daily Mail, who asked about CNN’s handling of the Reddit user who created his wrestling video. Via Mediaite: Putting North Korea on the back burner Trump pounced on CNN with obvious relish. “I think what CNN did was unfortunate for them. As you …

The Associated Press reports: Trump’s first trip to Europe as president in May saw a series of awkward encounters, including a tough speech to the leaders of NATO countries urging them to spend more on their armed forces, an uncomfortable handshake with France’s new president, and a caught-on-camera moment when Trump pushed past the prime minister of Montenegro, Europe’s newest …

Deutsche Welle reports: The 17th annual ‘Equality Parade’ took place as Poland’s conservative government continues to oppose civil unions for same-sex couples. Organizers put the number at 50,000, while the police said 13,000 attended the parade, with 40 foreign embassies, including those of France and the US, expressing their support. The parade was intended to “draw attention to the rights …

You may need a tissue for this. The Independent reports: A Polish Christmas advert, which has been viewed more than two-and-a-half million times, about a grandfather learning English is melting hearts worldwide. The advert, released by online auction website Allegro, starts with the elderly man receiving an “English For Beginners” audio set from the website. He then sets about becoming …

Radio Free Europe reports: Russia led an effort at the United Nations to strip language from an AIDS resolution that would have called for the decriminalization of homosexuality and drug use. Russia was joined by Iran, Poland, and several Gulf states in blocking the decriminalization language from being included in a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on June …

The chance of any advances for LGBT rights in Poland were dashed yesterday as an anti-LGBT right wing party won a commanding number of seats in Parliament. Reuters reports: Poland’s eurosceptic Law and Justice party (PiS) claimed victory on Sunday in a watershed election that risks putting the ex-communist state on a collision course with key European Union allies. Run …

Early this month Vatican priest Krzystof Charamsa was sacked from his position at the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith immediately after coming out on the eve of the synod on the family. Today he was defrocked by Polish Bishop Ryszard Kasyna. Yahoo News reports: The 43-year-old priest sparked outrage at the Vatican on October 3 by publicly declaring …

Via the Associated Press: Thousands of activists have marched in scorching weather in Warsaw’s 15th yearly “Equality Parade,” confirming a growing public support for gay rights.The participants chanted in support of same sex marriage and the right for same-sex couples to adopt children. Carrying a huge rainbow-colored flag, they marched from the Parliament building, through the downtown Savior Square, where …

By a vote of 215-146, Polish lawmakers have rejected placing a civil unions bill on the agenda for the coming legislative session.  Nearly 100 legislators reportedly abstained or refused to vote. This is the fourth consecutive year that such an action was rejected. The 2013 attempt to pass a civil partnerships bill failed to advance by 17 votes. The head …

By a vote of 235-185, Polish lawmakers have rejected placing a civil unions bill on the agenda for the coming legislative session. This is the third consecutive year that such an action was rejected. The 2013 attempt to pass a civil partnerships bill failed to advance by 17 votes.

Poland’s struggling LGBT rights movement got a boost this week when a “wildly popular” boxer publicly expressed his support. Via New York Times: Dariusz Michalczewski, a world-famous pugilist who goes by the nickname Tiger, recently made headlines by announcing his support for one of the country’s most prominent gay rights groups, Shoulder to Shoulder on Equality — L.G.B.T. and Friends, …