"Stop the bullshit"
"I'm not an ideology"
"Against state violence"
"LGBT are people, not an ideology"
"Homophobia kills"
"My child is not an ideology"
"-ality, love, acceptance"
"The state does not defend us, my sisters I will protect"
!["I was afraid to report it when homophobes beat me up, [because of homophobia amongst the Polish police], how many others have the police NOT helped?"](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/8258b37e-c8ca-46fa-a125-b7e45be074bb/f5f6cda0-2995-4dc8-beab-b405751f5fff_rw_1200.jpg?h=a621640c964e257a673603d157e40760)
"I was afraid to report it when homophobes beat me up, [because of homophobia amongst the Polish police], how many others have the police NOT helped?"
"Who will protect us from the police?"
"My rights are more important than your discomfort"
"Autonomy and self-determination of one's identity, work, life"
"Pride month commemorates revolt; fuck 'rainbow' capitalism"
"Queer liberation; socialism and democracy"
"Let's become ungovernable! Anti-capitalist equality march"
"Queer liberation"
"Standing firmly with trans persons"; the symbols on the sign to the right correspond to "fuck PSL", or the Polish Peasant Party, a conservative political party in the ruling coalition known for blocking pro-LGBTQ+ legislation
"Transition a human right, not a privilege for the few"
!["Where's the [LGBTQ+ rights] legislation?"](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/8258b37e-c8ca-46fa-a125-b7e45be074bb/84a3fd73-9311-4557-a8ab-ebd9b5452cbd_rw_1200.jpg?h=09aec0b1c9079b30ca4f6e5bf98f9739)
"Where's the [LGBTQ+ rights] legislation?"
Pride marches, in Polish known as "marsze równości," or "equality marches," although held in Polish cities since 2001, began to proliferate in 2020 following a queerphobic political campaign orchestrated by conservative and right-wing forces in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election. During that time, equality marches and other LGBTQ+ demonstrations were regularly attacked by far-right hooligans. On the 7th of August, 2020, a solidarity demonstration for an arrested queer activist was attacked by the police, who brutally arrested dozens of queer protesters in the streets, an evening often now referred to as "Polish Stonewall." That evening and the brutal repressions of the Women's Strike protests the following autumn and winter sparked a public discourse in Polish society questioning the perceived role of the police as protectors of citizen's rights and safety.
The equality marches since then have grown significantly bigger and more mainstream. In general, the demonstrations have lost much of the protest character of their earlier years and taken on a more celebratory aesthetic common across Pride marches held in Western Europe and North America. Nevertheless, more radical queer activist collectives and individuals continue to maintain that Pride is first and foremost a protest, rather than a celebration, particularly in Poland, which has repeatedly ranked lowest in the EU in terms of protecting LGBTQ+ rights.