Gay activists
protest speech by Polish president in Berlin

Gay rights advocates protested ahead of a speech by Poland's conservative president, Lech Kaczynski, in Berlin on Thursday, holding placards and accusing him of scapegoating gays. The protesters entered the auditorium at the city's Humboldt University while preliminary speakers were addressing the audience. Kaczynski later spoke without interruption after one of the activists was permitted to speak from the podium. "He shares responsibility for violence against gays and lesbians," said Holger Wicht, editor of Siegessaule, a Berlin gay publication. "This person is an inciter. He is stirring up Catholicism, which leads to exclusion." Several protesters stood in the back and held placards while Kaczynski spoke but did not interrupt him, and there were no clashes with police or the Polish leader's entourage. Kaczynski had refused parade permits for gay rights marches during his tenure as mayor of Warsaw. He was elected president in October on a platform of social conservatism and Roman Catholic values combined with preservation of welfare-state benefits. Kaczynski is visiting Berlin for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Koehler. (AP)