The Polish city of Gdansk, on the country's Pomeranian coast, is famous for several reasons. World War II is widely regarded as having started here in 1939,as did the Solidarity workers' movement of the 1980s. Recently the first ‘gay rights’ march in the region took place there, attracting about 1,000 participants. Even two years ago, such a  march in this city would have been unthinkable. At that time, Poland’s most famous native icon, Lech Walesa, founder of the Solidarity movement, said on TV that ‘gays had no right to impose their will on the Polish majority. ‘Nor should they play a prominent role in Polish politics’, he added. Attitudes are changing, in part because the Catholic Church's influence is shrinking in Poland and more Poles are declaring themselves to be homosexual. With the opening of borders after joining the European Union things have changed, especially for the youth. LGBT characters being featured in popular TV series makes a difference in social acceptance.