Key Points
The United States ambassador held a U.S. flag high as he marched in the yearly Pride parade in Warsaw on Saturday, a clear message of Washington's opposition to discrimination in a country where LGBTQ+ people are facing an uphill struggle...
America embraces equality, Ambassador Mark Brzezinski said, as he marched with more than 30 other members of the U.S. Embassy and alongside representatives from Canada, Austria and other Western countries in the Equality Parade...
In recent years Western governments have been alarmed as the conservative government in Warsaw depicted gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people as threats to the nation and its children...
The participation of the U.S. ambassador sent a clear message to the government of Poland, a NATO member on the alliance's eastern flank where the United States has increased its military presence since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year...
The U.S. is also seen as a guarantor of protection to the LGBTQ+ community, which a few years ago was fighting for the right of same-sex union or marriage, but recently has been more concerned about a climate of hostility from the government and Catholic Church...
