Campaigners march for gay rights in Poland

GAY rights campaigners from Poland and across Europe have marched in Warsaw to protest public and official homophobia in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

Around 4,000 people turned out for the Equality Parade, police said. Many of the participants carried the rainbow flag, the symbol of homosexual rights, and marched under the slogan "Love Thy Neighbour'' - the use of the biblical commandant an apparent swipe at ultra-Catholic protesters.

There was little sign of the flamboyant dress, including drag, which is a feature of Gay Pride events in other European Union countries where the lot of homosexuals is thought to be better than in Poland.

The annual Warsaw march, which drew only a few score demonstrators when it began in 2001, has a traditionally political edge due to official bans and sometimes violent counter-demonstrations.