Some 100 protesters converged in front of the building in the late afternoon, bearing banners with slogans such as “Love is Love,” “Stop Intolerance” and “A Hate-Free Zone,” the Polish state news agency reported.
Carrying rainbow, national red-and-white and European Union flags, they chanted: “There is no freedom without an equality march.”
Flags of the leftwing Razem party could also be spotted, PAP reported.
The parliament building was fenced off with barriers, with a sizable number of police officers on standby, as some supporters of the bill also gathered, carrying red-and-white flags, the news agency said.
The protest rally lasted into the evening as lawmakers hotly discussed the proposed new regulations, with opposition MPs calling for their rejection.
The bill in question, which began its journey through parliament on Thursday, has been prepared by anti-abortion activist Kaja Godek’s Life and Family Foundation.
It seeks to outlaw all assemblies designed “to call into question the conception of marriage as a union of man and woman,” “call for the extension of the institution of marriage to apply to same-sex persons,” or “promote non-heterosexual orientations,” among other provisions.
The LGBT rights group Campaign Against Homophobia said the legislation “openly violates the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of assembly” and represents “another attempt to restrict the rights of LGBT+ people in Poland,” PAP reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP