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4 | T UESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL EDITION

World

The marchers at the first gay pride pa-

rade here in the conservative Polish city

of Bialystok expected that they would be

met with resistance.

But when Katarzyna Sztop-Rutkow-

ska saw the angry mob of thousands

that awaited the marchers, who num-

bered only a few hundred, she was

shocked.

“The most aggressive were the foot-

ball hooligans, but they were joined by

normal people — people with families,

people with small children, elderly peo-

ple,” she said.

They blocked her way, first hurling in-

vective, then bricks and stones and fire-

works, she said. From the balconies,

people threw eggs and rotten vegeta-

bles. Even before the march started,

there were violent confrontations, and

by the time the tear gas cleared and the

crowd dispersed, dozens were injured

and Poland was left reeling.

Much as the racist violence in Char-

lottesville, Va., shocked the conscience

of America in 2017, the brutality in Bialy-

stok on July 20 has rocked many in Po-

land and raised grave concerns over a

steady diet of anti-gay political propa-

ganda in the country.

In a show of solidarity with the gay

community in Bialystok, thousands of

demonstrators took to the streets of

Warsaw and other Polish cities on Satur-

day. They carried rainbow flags and

vowed to combat intolerance.

“One week ago, the government be-

trayed the people in Bialystok, gays and

lesbians,” said Pawel Rabiej, the openly

gay deputy mayor of Warsaw. “Warsaw

is for everyone, and so should the rest of

Poland. Solidarity will conquer the time

of contempt.”

Since this spring, when the governing

Law and Justice Party stepped up its

anti-L.G.B.T. language in advance of Eu-

ropean Parliament elections, the lan-

guage has only grown more heated as

national elections approach this fall.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the

governing party, told supporters at a

July campaign event in Kuczki-Kolonia,

a village in central Poland, that it was

their duty to defend the nation from

what he called Western decadence.

“We don’t have to stand under the

rainbow flag,” he said.

In recent months, more than 30 local-

ities have passed legislation declaring

their region free from “L.G.B.T. ideol-

ogy.” A national conservative newspa-

per, Gazeta Polska, distributed stickers

so people could designate “L.G.B.T.-

free” zones, a stunt that drew a swift re-

buke from the United States ambassa-

dor to Poland, Georgette Mosbacher,

and others and was later banned by a

Polish court.

A group in Warsaw called “Stop Pedo-

philia” has been traveling the country

smearing gay people with baseless

claims of abuse.

For weeks, the group set up a tent in

the center of the old town square of Bia-

lystok to spread its message. Even after

the violence over a week ago, the

group’s truck was still broadcasting its

claims over loudspeakers.

“What happened in Bialystok was the

result of months of propaganda,” Ms. Sz-

top-Rutkowska said.

The anti-gay language has also been

pushed by many figures in the Roman

Catholic Church. Two weeks before the

march, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda is-

sued a letter that was read aloud in all

churches in Bialystok and the surround-

ing province of Podlasie, asserting that

gay pride events constituted “blas-

phemy against God.” He invoked a Latin

phrase that was once the rallying cry of

priests fighting for freedom against

Communist rule. “Non possumus,” he

wrote. “We cannot accept this!”

Dozens were injured in Bialystok. The

police have identified over 100 people

and accused them of attacking the

marchers. At least 77 have been fined or

charged. One man was accused of beat-

ing a 14-year-old boy.

In the week that followed, the violence

was condemned by officials from both

the governing party and the church —

though both also denied responsibility

for fomenting fear and hatred.

Jakub Przybysz is well acquainted

with the hatred directed at gay people in

many parts of the country. It is why he

hid his sexuality for years.

Even before the recent anti-L.G.B.T.

campaign, it was not easy being gay in

this conservative town. There are no

gay-friendly clubs or coffeehouses. It

would be crazy, he said, to walk hand-in-

hand with a same-sex partner.

“The only open life you can live is in

your own apartment,” he said.

Still, when he learned that Bialystok

County had been declared a region free

of “L.G.B.T. ideology,” he was “shocked

and horrified.”

“I don’t want to leave this country, but

I wonder if there is a place in Poland

where I can feel safe,” he said.

Bozena Bierylo, a Law and Justice

councilwoman from the Bialystok

County, said that the legislation was a

response to “provocations” from

L.G.B.T. minorities and their “demands”

for sex education classes.

Still, she said, “any violence is unac-

ceptable.”

Mr. Przybysz said that the anger he

witnessed at the march has been fueled

by language from political and religious

figures.

His account, along with those of other

eyewitnesses and videos, showed how a

mob mentality can grip a community.

The march was supposed to begin at 2

p.m.

A group of people who wanted to pro-

test against the event were granted a

permit for the same day. Extremist

groups put out calls for supporters from

across the region to join them.

They assembled on a knoll overlook-

ing the Square of the Independent Stu-

dent Association, the site of an old Jew-

ish cemetery that was buried by the

Communists after the war.

Ms. Sztop-Rutkowska, a sociologist,

said that as she was surrounded by

thousands of angry protesters, perhaps

the most chilling thing was that there

were familiar faces in the howling

crowd.

“I recognized a former neighbor,” she

said. “A friend recognized their doctor. A

student of mine saw a counselor from

her child’s school.”

All along the way, the marchers were

met with scorn and derision. One image

that has spread around the country

showed a man, with his child in a stroller,

confronting the police and shouting at

the marchers as he tried to stop them.

An older lady on a balcony waved at

the marchers only to be met with shouts

from hooligans in the crowd. “We know

where you live, you whore!” they

chanted.

Videos showed mobs chasing people.

One ended with a young boy being

stomped on by a group of large men.

Talk of the violence has gripped Po-

land in the days since, with endless

hours of discussion on radio and televi-

sion.

Even as political leaders and church

officials have tried to distance them-

selves from the violence, the campaign

against the gay community has shown

no signs of abating.

Przemyslaw Witkowski, a journalist,

was riding a bicycle with his girlfriend in

the city of Wroclaw on Thursday

evening when he spotted anti-gay graf-

fiti and told his girlfriend it was shame-

ful.

A short time later, a man confronted

him.

“You don’t like this graffiti?” Mr.

Witkowski said the man asked him.

“I said I did not,” Mr. Witkowski re-

sponded.

The man attacked him.

“He beat me badly, leaving me on the

ground bleeding,” Mr. Witkowski said

from the police station in Wroclaw on

Friday, where he was undergoing a

physical to catalog his injuries, which in-

cluded a broken nose and fractures in

his face. The photos of his bloody face

have been widely shared across the

country.

Polish officials blamed

for anti-gay violence

BIALYSTOK, POLAND

Mob attack on parade

occurs after months of

poisonous propaganda

BY MARC SANTORA

AND JOANNA BERENDT

Police in Bialystok, Poland, detained a protester who tried to block a gay pride parade in

the city on July 20. Dozens were injured when a mob attacked the parade.

AGNIESZKA SADOWSKA/AGENCJA GAZETA, VIA REUTERS

“The only open life you can live

is in your own apartment.”

Over nearly two months, hundreds of

thousands of people have braved Hong

Kong’s sweltering heat in a series of ral-

lies against an extradition bill that has

come to symbolize concerns about the

encroachment of the mainland Chinese

government on the semiautonomous

territory.

We spoke to protesters as well as pro-

establishment activists and others who

have been otherwise caught in the

crossfire to hear about their experi-

ences. These are excerpts from their an-

swers, edited for clarity and length:

HENRY FUNG, 17

A high schooler and antigovernment pro-

tester who believes in forceful tactics

I haven’t really protested before, not

even in marches, but I feel that if I don’t

do something to protect freedoms I

ought to have, I may never recover them

again. We want to be peaceful, but under

oppression we need to resist.

We do what peaceful protesters don’t

dare to do. Only after we’ve occupied a

street or a building do they feel that it’s

safe to come out and sit there as well.

When I walk to the front, I’m scared. I

prepare myself mentally that I may get

hurt and even arrested.

My brother supports me, but he can’t

join the protests because of work. My fa-

ther found out because my school called

him when I skipped exams on June 12.

He would say that it’s dangerous, and

that protesters who are in front, hitting

the police, are rioters, and to tell me not

to be like them. I feel that that’s unfair to

them, but I wouldn’t get angry at him.

ALEXANDRA WONG, 63

Retiree who is often on the front lines of

protests, waving a Union Jack flag

I wave the British flag because I want

to remind middle-aged and older people

to think back on 1997 [when Britain re-

turned Hong Kong to Chinese control],

and what the British people have built

for us. The Hong Kong government and

Communist regime keep wanting to

erode our freedoms, our partial democ-

racy, core values and our rule of law.

I didn’t study politics or social sci-

ence, but I simply understand how pre-

cious democracy is from life experience.

I lived in Austria for 12 and a half years.

I’ve lived in mainland China and was

born and raised in Hong Kong, and have

also been an immigrant in the United

States. The difference in political sys-

tems can alter the people’s sense of hap-

piness so vastly — like heaven and

earth!

I need to stand at the front with the

students. I want to resist till the end with

them.

CALVIN SO, 23

A cook who was in the district of Yuen

Long on July 21 when a mob attacked

protestersand bystanders

It was 9:45 p.m., and I had gotten off

work and was walking along a river on

my way home. I saw many people in

white shirts holding weapons, and I

said, “Wow! So many people in white.”

Those people came over and yelled at

me right after I said that. One person

started to hit me, then a few more. Then

they all started to hit me as I walked fur-

ther. There must have been around 20

people surrounding me.

These people beat me with things like

rattan or hiking sticks. I couldn’t exactly

see what they were using, but I saw

other people holding these weapons. I

felt frightened and bewildered. There

was no way I looked like their target. I

didn’t go to the protest.

No one helped me. During the attack,

someone threw my mobile phone into

the river. I just ran away and found a

convenience store, where I called emer-

gency services. Some officers arrived

and an ambulance took me to a hospital.

LAM CHING, 28

An instructor at an adventure camp who

volunteers medical assistance at protests

Too many people had been injured in

recent clashes between police and pro-

testers, so I decided to come out, hoping

to do my part and provide them with

first aid treatment.

I feel so angry. It is supposed to be a

political issue, but the government has

turned it into a conflict between the po-

lice and Hong Kong people.

We are all Hong Kong people. I really

hope the Hong Kong police force can re-

main professional. I genuinely hope

they can regain their rationality and

self-possession.

PERRY DINO, 53

An artist (real name: Perry Chan) who

captures the protests with oil on canvas,

even when tear gas is fired

I see my role as a witness to history,

not so different from reporters. I’m here

to stand with the students, rain or shine.

People can take thousands of photos at a

protest, but I only create one painting.

Photos can be deleted, but to destroy my

paintings, you will have to burn them.

As I was painting on site, a foreigner

asked me to sell him my painting, but I

told him no. I’m worried that if a paint-

ing passes through the wrong hands, it

could disappear from history. I think

they need to stay here so that the next

generation can see it in an exhibit about

Hong Kong’s democracy.

Not many paintings have tear gas as a

raw material.

SO HIU-CHING, 16

High school student and peaceful pro-

tester

Our society isn’t thrown into chaos be-

cause of the protests. There are protests

because society is in turmoil. I really

want to ask the government to think

about what they did this for. So much has

happened and so many young people’s

hopes have been dashed. Can they take

responsibility? Why can’t you say you

will withdraw the bill?

My parents sometimes cry while

watching broadcasts of the protests and

would tell us, “We are very sorry.” I don’t

want to repeat this phrase to my chil-

dren. I want to fight for a Hong Kong

that we want and not have to tell genera-

tion after generation that we haven’t

done enough. I’m very happy my par-

ents understand this.

There are still some conflicts, though.

Sometimes they would say things like,

“How can you battle with the govern-

ment? You are doing so much, will it lead

to anything?” But we cannot give up, be-

cause we won’t win without even trying.

HE HUA, 42

A Mandarin teacher from mainland

China and a government supporter

I love Hong Kong. I don’t want it to be

negatively impacted. My child goes to

school in Hong Kong, I work in Hong

Kong, I love Hong Kong, simple as that.

I am here to support the police, and

we have to hold up our flag because we

are one collective organization.

It’s not that other people don’t love

Hong Kong. Perhaps they don’t under-

stand or have misunderstood, and will

do many rather impulsive things. The

protesters have damaged roads and the

Legislative Council, which is very poor

behavior.

As Chinese people, we must not do

that. We need to be people of conscience

and morals.

Alexandra Wong, 63, holding a British flag during protests outside the Legislative Council building in Hong Kong. The protests have continued for nearly two months.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LAM YIK FEI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

‘We cannot give up’

HONG KONG

As Hong Kong protests

escalate, people from both

camps reflect on what’s next

BY TIFFANY MAY, LAM YIK FEI

AND EZRA CHEUNG

Clockwise from top left: Henry Fung, 17, said, “under oppression we need to resist”; Perry Dino, 53, a painter who captures the protests

on canvas; Lam Ching, 28, volunteers medical assistance; Calvin So, 23, was struck by “people in white shirts holding weapons”; So

Hiu-ching, 16, said her parents understood protesters’ motivation; He Hua, 42, is from the mainland and supports the government.

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