Thousands defy Orban to march in Budapest Pride
Tens of thousands of people attended Budapest's Pride march on Saturday, defying a government ban that marked an unprecedented regression of LGBTQ+ rights in the European Union.
Earlier this year, Viktor Orban's ruling coalition amended laws and the constitution to prohibit the annual celebration, justifying his years-long clampdown on LGBTQ+ rights on 'child protection' grounds.
Hungarian police formally announced the Pride march ban last week but supporters from Hungary and dozens of other countries resisted and turned up in their thousands.
Akos Horvath, an 18-year-old student from a city in southern Hungary, told AFP it was 'of symbolic importance to come', saying: 'It's not just about representing gay people, but about standing up for the rights of the Hungarian people.'
Pictures from Budapest showed police officers looking on as rainbow-clad marchers passed by. Mr Orban said Friday that while police would not 'break up' the Pride march, those who took part should be aware of 'legal consequences'.
His government warned that anyone attending the march faced fines of about £426 and a criminal record, while organisers were threatened with up to a year in prison. In the run-up to the event, cameras were installed on lamp posts along the planned route.
The law permits the use of facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend.
Gergely Karacsony, Budapest's liberal mayor, insisted that no attendee could face any reprisals because the march, co-organised by the city hall, was a municipal event and did not require police approval.
In an interview, Mr Karacsony said the capital city would stand united, adding: 'The strength and greatness of Budapest lie in its diversity. As Pope Francis once said about the city, unity in Budapest does not mean uniformity, but uniqueness.
'This is the essence of being a Budapester, this is the city's DNA – unity in diversity.'
Ministers from several EU countries, and dozens of European lawmakers, also said they would attend in defiance of the ban, reminiscent of those imposed in Moscow in 2006 and Istanbul in 2015. Thirty-three countries also spoke up in support.
'We're not just standing up for ourselves... If this law isn't overturned, eastern Europe could face a wave of similar measures,' Viktoria Radvanyi, a Pride organiser, said.
Right-wing groups also said they would be present, organising multiple counter-protests along the planned route of the procession.
A woman who gave only her first name, Katalin, told AFP she agreed with the ban though she hoped there would be no clashes. 'Disgusting... it's become a fad to show off ourselves,' she said.
The Hungarian prime minister's crackdown on rights has also seen LGBTQ+ people banned from featuring in school educational materials or TV shows for the under-18s.
Legal changes have also effectively barred same-sex couples from adopting children and prevented transgender people from changing their name or gender in official documents.
Opponents see the restrictions as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a general election next year when Mr Orban will face a strong opposition challenger.
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