Families charge minister over gay parade

Warsaw, June 13: The ultra-conservative League of Polish Families (LPR) Monday announced it would file charges against interior minister Ryszard Kalisz for allowing Warsaw police to protect a forbidden gay rights parade in the city, he also proposed the removal of deputy Sejm speaker Tomasz Nalecz from his post and criticized deputy PM Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka for participating in the parade.
Warsaw president Lech Kaczynski banned a June-11-planned Equality Parade on grounds that it promoted immoral sexual attitudes and could cause riots in the city. The decision met with protests in gay and other circles in Poland and abroad, Poland's gay and lesbian organisations announced last week that they would demonstrate despite the ban.
Present at the demo on Saturday were about 2,5 thousand people, among them deputy Sejm speaker Tomasz Nalecz and deputy PM Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. Anti-gay supporters tried to disrupt the march but were refrained by police, who arrested about 20 people. By protecting the parade they (police - PAP) enabled homosexual organisations and their leftwing leaders to break the law, LPR leader Roman Giertych said at a press conference. Giertych also complained that police had detained parade opponents "until the late evening hours". This was a crass breach of duty on the part of the police, Giertych opined.
All those who demonstrated - including our newly converted gay Mr. Tomasz Nalecz, deputy PM Mrs. Jaruga-Nowacka and other leaders of this event, were violating the law. Those who opposed the demonstration, on the other hand, were doing their civil duty", Giertych said.
He added that LPR would move for Nalecz's removal from the Sejm speakership. If a deputy parliamentary speaker chooses to involve the house in an illegal gay parade, then we must say that this is harmful for parliament's authority and the prestige of the Polish state, Giertych admonished.
Kalisz told PAP today that Warsaw police had no special orders regarding the Saturday parade. The police were doing their job according to plan, the minister said.(mb)

(Quelle: Polnische Presse Agentur)