Protesters in Poland Show Resolve After Pride Parade Attacks

Demonstrators from Poland's progressive parties waved rainbow flags and took to the streets of Warsaw only a week after violent attacks on a Pride march.

More than 1,000 people came together in the Polish capital, Reuters reports, just a week after homophobic attacks broke out at Bialystok's first-ever Pride march.

Young people insisted the motivation behind the violent attacks does not represent Poland's future.

"I am here because of what happened in Bialystok and because of the 'LGBT-free zone' stickers," Amelia Rae, a 15-year-old student, told the news service. "If something is going to change, then the government needs to change."

She referenced conservative magazine Gazeta Polska distributing hateful stickers last week intending to intimidate LGBTQ people amid Pride celebrations. A Warsaw court ordered a temporary hold on the distribution of the stickers.

The stickers prefaced a counterprotest in the conservative Podlaskie province.

Police have detained at least 30 people in connection to violence that has broken out and politicians, including the prime minister, have denounced the anti-LGBTQ events. Pro-LGBTQ protesters this weekend said the intolerant leadership of Poland's Law and Justice Party was fomenting hate in the nation.

"The tension is growing and is tied to the politics of the ruling party, which are hateful and intolerant," said protester Marta Zawadzka. She blames conservative leadership for "blaming LGBT people and painting them as pedophiles and bad people."