Equality Parade 2016
Ambassador Gerard Keown has signed an open letter from 36 Ambassadors and Representatives in Poland in support of the Equality Parade which will take place in Warsaw on Saturday 11 June.
The Embassy of Ireland is pleased to support the Equality parade again this year and will be present at the Parade to show Ireland's strong support for equality issues.
A record number of diplomatic missions signed the open letter of support for this year's Equality Parade:
Open letter of the Ambassadors of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela, as well as the General Representative of the Government of Flanders and the Representative of the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, as well as the representatives in Poland of the European Commission and of the UNHCR, on the occasion of the Equality Parade in Warsaw on June 11th, 2016. The coordination of this letter is ensured by the Embassy of Sweden in Poland.
On the occasion of this year's Warsaw Equality Parade, we express our support for efforts to raise public awareness of the issue affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community in Poland. In this regard, we affirm the inherent dignity of each individual as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Respect for these fundamental values, which are also enshrined in the framework fo the COuncil of Europe and the European Union and a community of values, obliges governments to protect all citizens from violence and discrimination and to ensure they enjoy equal opportunities. For this, we need to jointly work on an environment of tolerance and acceptance. We pay tribute to the hard work of LGBTI communities in Poland and around the world, as well as the work of all those in government and outside who seek to ensure human rights for LGBTI persons and end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBTI rights are human rights, which everyone should support.
Patricia Beatriz Salas, Ambassador of Argentina
Paul Wojciechowski, Ambassador of Australia
Thomas M. Buchsbaum, Ambassador of Austria
Colette Taquet, Ambassador of Belgium
Alfredo Leoni, Ambassador of Brazil
Stephen de Boer, Ambassador of Canada
Alfredo García Castelblanco, Ambassador of Chile
Jakub Karfík, Ambassador of the Czech Republic
Steen Hommel, Ambassador of Denmark
Hanna Lehtinen, Ambassador of Finland
Pierre Buhler, Ambassador of France
Rolf Nikel, Ambassador of Germany
Evangelos Tsaoussis, Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic
Gerard Keown, Ambassador of Ireland
Anna Azari, Ambassador of State of Israel
Alessandro De Pedys, Ambassador of Italy
Georges Faber, Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Albert-Joseph Ghigo, Chargé d’Affaires a.i.,Embassy of Malta
Ramiz Bašić, Ambassador of Montenegro
Wendy Hinton, Ambassador of New Zealand
Adriaan Palm, Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Karsten Klepsvik, Ambassador of Norway
Maria Amélia Paiva, Ambassador of Portugal
Robert Krmelj, Ambassador of Slovenia
Simon Jabulani Ntombela, Ambassador of South Africa
Agustín Núñez Martínez, Ambassador of Spain
Inga Eriksson Fogh, Ambassador of Sweden
Andrej Motyl, Ambassador of Switzerland
Andrii Deshchytsia, Ambassador of Ukraine
Jonathan Knott, British Ambassador
Paul Jones, U.S. Ambassador
Luis Gomez Urdaneta, Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Yves Wantens, General Representative of the Government of Flanders
Franck Pezza, Representative of the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation
Marek Prawda, Representative of the European Commission in Poland
Anna-Carin Öst, Representative, UNHCR Representation in Poland
For more information, please see the Equality Parade website.