Love in Poznań. Will LGBT+ people win equal rights?

Several 1000 21st March of Equality passed through the streets of Poznań. origin – Wikimedia Commons. licence – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Aike 4.0 International. Author – Landsgroup

June and July were marked by equality marches in the largest European capitals – from Madrid and Lisbon to Paris and Budapest. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to celebrate freedom, equality and love. Among them was Poznań – with much little many but definitely not little crucial parade.

A period ago, the 21st March of Equality passed through the streets of Poznań. It was the culmination of Pride Month, the most intense, full of events of the week – Pride Week. The period of Duma in Poznań began on 30 May with the beginning of the exhibition "LGBT+ Zone. Queer art in a time of good change” in Arsenal City Gallery. From that point on, all June was filled with various types of queer events. From movie shows and joint yoga classes, through workshops (e.g. creating posters or writing books) to performances and events. There was besides an ecumenical service conducted in the Reformed Catholic Church. Thanks to this diversity characterizing Pride Month, anyone curious could find something for themselves.

Thousands of rainbow flags on the streets of Poznań

However, the most anticipated item of the program was the Equality March, which took place on June 21. Since 2004, it has been held in Poznań regularly and although it is inactive guided by the same ideas and values, after more than 20 years it is completely different from the 1 that went through the streets of the city for the first time. The first Equality March in Poznań was held on 20 November 2004. Participants who were about 300 managed to walk only little than 200 metres, as they were stopped by aggressive countermanifests. This year, more than a mile [5 km] of the way was beaten by respective 1000 people. At the culminating minute according to the police findings given by TVP3 Poznań participants of the march were over 4 thousand. And the countermanifests passing on the march way could be counted on the fingers of 2 hands. This year's march began from Lokum Stonewall (around the Imperial Castle and independency Avenue) and ended in the same place. As part of the alleged culmination weekend Poznań Pride 2025, people could besides participate in 3 drag events, a silent disco and a picnic on the day of the march. The first drag show took place on Thursday 19 June. During it, 11 people appeared in the Court of Lokum, and everything was led by a drag performer and activist Your Stara. A day later, the Malta Festival featured the winner of the second edition of the RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars – Alaska Thunderfuck program. And after the march there was another drag show in the Courtyard, besides run by your old lady. Alaska Thunderfuck was not the only global star to participate in the Poznan Pride. In the crowd marching on June 21st, 1 could meet a well known among others from “The Tales of Narni” or “In the area next door” a British actor – Tilda Swinton.

Colour in crowd, greyness in system

Looking at everything that happened in Poznań in June from a distance, it would seem that Poland is an highly friendly place for LGBTQ+ people. However, the reality is much little colorful than the flag on the Poznań buildings. In May, ILGA-Europe – an independent global NGO promoting LGBTQ+ interests at European level published its yearly Rainbow Map report. This study "classifies 49 European countries in terms of their legal and political practices concerning LGBTI, from 0 to 100%". According to him, Poland is 39th with only 20.5%. On the another hand, given only the countries belonging to the European Union, it is the penultimate place, with only Romania behind it with 18.6%. This shows how much remains to be done in Poland in relation to LGBTQ+ rights. Despite the assurances of the civilian Coalition in its "100 concretes" about the introduction of the Law on Partnerships after 19 months of becoming the largest organization in the ruling coalition, nothing has changed. On the website showing the implementation of these specifics (100kretow.pl) at point 46 concerning this law, you can read "Minister for Equality conducts public consultations in this area". In fact, however, the draft law on partnerships already after consultation has been on the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers (ancillary body of the Government and Prime Minister). As a consequence of this ongoing process and disputes concerning this substance in the ruling coalition of the Left, she submitted her draft bill. This task went through a public consultation, where (97% of those who took part responded) and was directed at the first reading in the Sejm on 10 July. This is simply a task that is mostly akin to a government project, but the Left hopes that it will be speeded up.

Both projects introduce the anticipation of establishing a union in the Office of civilian State, give the anticipation to change the name, and besides regulate issues of property union, kid care and possible termination of the relationship. The fact that there are only 5 countries in Europe that do not recognise the formalisation of single-sex couples can be confirmed by the deficiency of regulation of the issue of partnerships in Poland against a European background. Even in Hungary, where the ruling Viktor Orban banned “Budapest Pride” organisations this year, there are partnerships, as well as full protection of LGBTQ+ people from discrimination and hatred speech. However, the fact that the situation of non-heteronormatives has worsened since Fidesz persisted in power cannot be overlooked.

This year's Poznań Pride was an event that was undoubtedly worth participating in. He carried a large deal of affirmative energy with him, and he gathered a large many people together for a common purpose. He besides reminded that there is simply a lot to be done about LGBTQ+ rights in Poland and that there are people willing to fight to make it happen as shortly as possible. And in anticipation of the 21st March of Equality in Poznań, which has already been announced and planned for 27 June 2026, it remains to hope and request that the ruling politicians take concrete action by then. In particular, to regulate the issue of partnerships, which Poles have been waiting for so long.

Marianna CZMOCHOWSKA