BRUSSELS, June 22 (UPI) -- Poland's human rights record has come under fire in the European Parliament after the mayor of Warsaw banned this year's "gay pride" rally.
Although some 3,000 demonstrators went ahead with the march anyway, members of the Green party are threatening Poland with a censure vote claiming the country had "betrayed" its commitment to uphold the European Convention on Human Rights.
Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski of the conservative and populist Law and Justice party and a front-runner in this fall's presidential election, banned the "Warsaw Parade for Equal Rights" for the second year running, claiming a threat to law and order in the capital.
British Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas, whose southeast England constituency includes Brighton, home of Europe's largest gay pride event, has also demanded an explanation to Parliament from Poland's Ambassador to the European Union.
"Polish gay rights activists have called on the EU to review Polish membership of the Union in light of the ban, which they say undermines the gay community's human rights to free assembly and free speech," Lucas told reporters in Brussels.
