Latest news with #BudapestPrideMarch
The Star
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
UN council votes to keep researching abuses for LGBT people despite US U-turn
FILE PHOTO: A rainbow flag flies during the Budapest Pride March in Budapest, Hungary, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Lisa Leutner/File Photo GENEVA (Reuters) -The U.N. Human Rights Council voted on Monday to renew the mandate of an LGBT rights expert, a move welcomed by advocates amid the absence of the United States, a former key supporter that is now rolling back such protections. Western diplomats had previously voiced concerns about the renewal of the mandate of South African scholar Graeme Reid who helps to boost protections by documenting abuses and through dialogue with countries. The motion for a three-year renewal passed with 29 votes in favour, 15 against and three abstentions. Supporters included Chile, Germany, Kenya and South Africa while several African nations and Qatar opposed it. "The renewal of this mandate is a spark of hope in a time when reactionary powers worldwide are trying to dismantle progress that our communities fought so hard to achieve," said Julia Ehrt, executive director of campaign group ILGA World. The United States, which has disengaged from the council under President Donald Trump, citing an alleged antisemitic bias, was previously a supporter of the mandate under the Biden administration. Since taking office in January, Trump has signed executive orders to curb transgender rights and dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the government and private sector. His administration says such steps restore fairness, but civil rights and LGBT advocates say they make marginalised groups more vulnerable. In negotiations before the vote, Pakistan voiced opposition to the mandate on behalf of Muslim group OIC, calling it a tool to advocate "controversial views". (Reporting by Emma Farge; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Hindustan Times
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Budapest pride march 'a disgrace', says Viktor Orban amid crackdown on LGBTQ community
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday slammed as a "disgrace" the Budapest Pride parade at the weekend that drew a record turnout despite a ban issued by police. People cross the Elisabeth Bridge during the Budapest Pride March in Budapest, Hungary,(REUTERS) Organisers estimated that over 200,000 people took part in the 30th parade in the Hungarian capital on Saturday, in a rebuke of the nationalist leader's anti-LGBTQ policies. Earlier this year, the governing coalition amended laws and the constitution to prohibit the annual celebration, citing "child protection" to justify the increased clampdown on LGBTQ rights. "I am one of those who do not consider what happened to be a source of pride... I say it is a disgrace," Orban said in his first public reaction, according to an excerpt released on social media from a television interview to be broadcast later. Before the event, Orban vowed police would not break up the Pride march, but warned those who would take part in it about "legal consequences". Organisers risk up to a year in prison, and attendees can face fines up to 500 euros ($590). The latest legal changes empowered authorities to use facial-recognition technology to identify those taking part, with cameras having been temporarily installed on lamp posts along the parade route. Police told AFP that they are "probing the events that took place at Saturday's gathering". Pride organisers, including the Budapest city hall which co-hosted the march so it could go ahead, disputed the legality of the police ban, which also drew international condemnation. Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony did thank police for providing the event's security.
Straits Times
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Hungary's Orban accuses EU of orchestrating 'repulsive' Pride march
People cross the Elisabeth Bridge during the Budapest Pride March in Budapest, Hungary, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo BUDAPEST - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Saturday's Pride "repulsive and shameful", accusing the EU of directing opposition politicians to organise the event, which turned into an anti-government protest, local media reported in Sunday. The march in Budapest for LGBTQ+ swelled into one of the largest displays of opposition to Orban in recent years, as an estimated 100,000 participants defied a police ban and threats of fines to join the demonstration. Speaking in a closed online group for his supporters called Fight Club on Sunday, Orban said opposition politicians instructed by "Brussels" had called on their voters to attend the event in large numbers, according to local news outlet Index. "Since yesterday, we are even more certain that these people [opposition politicians] must not be allowed near the helm of government. And we will not allow them," Orban told his supporters, according to Index. He did not offer any evidence for his comments. But the event was organised by the municipality of Budapest, led by mayor Gergely Karacsony, and Orban's government has accused him of being a "puppet" of Brussels for years. Reuters has contacted Pride organisers and the city hall but they did not immediately respond. The European Commission declined to comment on Orban's reported remarks. Orban told his supporters that he found the events at the Pride march "repulsive and shameful," specifically mentioning a drag queen show, men wearing high heels and pamphlets on hormonal therapies. The march had been banned based on a law passed in March that allows for the prohibition of Pride marches, citing the need to protect children. Orban's opponents see the ban as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a national election next year when the veteran prime minister - whose party has dominated Hungary's political scene for 15 years - will face a strong challenger. On Friday Orban said that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who earlier this week called on Hungarian authorities to let the Pride parade go ahead, regarded Hungary "as a subordinated country" and likened her message to receiving orders from Moscow in communist times. Reuters could not independently confirm the contents of the prime minister's message cited by Index. A government spokesman did not immediately reply to Reuters questions on the report's authenticity. Orban's government, which promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, has gradually curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade. His government has defended the restrictions saying that the need to protect children supersedes all other rights. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
LeMonde
28-06-2025
- Politics
- LeMonde
By banning the Budapest Pride march, Viktor Orban is trying to divide his opposition
Just 24 hours before the Budapest Pride March − scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 28, in the heart of the Hungarian capital − there was still no clarity on whether the parade would be able to proceed and under what conditions. Amid complete legal uncertainty, the nationalist government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban passed a law in March aimed at banning the event – which has been organized annually since 1997 – and continued to threaten participants with fines of up to €500 and prison sentences "of up to one year." Justice Minister Bence Tuzson even wrote to the embassy staff from countries supporting the parade – including the French embassy – to remind them of the legal framework of the law on "child protection," which prohibits the representation of homosexuality to minors. Meanwhile, organizers and Budapest's opposition mayor, Gergely Karacsony, maintained that transforming Pride into a "municipal event" rendered the national police ban illegitimate. Despite this uncertainty, the French government announced on June 26 that it would send its ambassador for LGBTQ+ rights, Jean-Marc Berthon, to Budapest on Saturday. He was expected to join some 60 MEPs from the left, green and centrist groups who had announced their participation in Budapest, in addition to the European commissioner for equality, Belgian social democrat Hadja Lahbib and dozens of national lawmakers from various European Union countries. The presence of so many political figures was set to turn this Pride into an unprecedented pan-European protest against Orban's increasingly authoritarian drift.
The Independent
17-03-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Orban's party pushes to ban Hungary Pride parade held for decades – in latest LGBT+ crackdown
Hungary's populist right-wing government is pushing to ban the country's decades-old Pride march in Budapest – as part of Prime Minister Victor Orban's increasing crackdown on LGBT+ rights. The ruling Fidesz party submitted a bill to parliament on Monday to ban the pride parade which has been held in Budapest for three decades, and impose fines on organisers and anyone else attending the event. Mr Orban's party wants to ban the march, which is due to celebrate its 30th birthday in June, by claiming it violates Hungary 's controversial 'child protection' legislation, which prohibits the 'depiction or promotion' of homosexuality to under-18s. Hungary's 'child protection' law was passed in 2021. Aside from banning the 'depiction or promotion' of same-sex relationships in content available to children and young people – including in television, films, advertisements and literature – it also prohibits the mention of LGBT+ issues in school education programmes, and forbids the public depiction of 'gender deviating from sex at birth'. That followed a bill passed in 2020 that effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children. "The proposed bill amends the law governing the right of assembly by stipulating that it is banned to hold an assembly that violates the ban set out in the law on the protection of children," the latest legislation says. Last week, The Fidesz party submitted proposed amendments to the constitution seeking to emphasise the protection of children's physical, moral and mental development over any other right, paving the way for the pride ban. In February, Mr Orban said organisers should not even bother to plan the event this year, saying in a speech it would be a 'waste of time and money'. Gergely Gullyas, the minister in charge of Mr Orban's office, said there would be 'no Pride in the public form in which we have known it in recent decades', adding the Fidesz party believed Hungarians 'should not tolerate Pride marching through the city centre'. Organisers are yet to comment on the new legislation, which says police will use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend the event. Before the introduction of legislation, the Pride organisers vowed to go ahead with the march, saying the prime minister should focus on improving daily life in Hungary rather than going after the LGBT+ community. 'They've tried countless times to ban our march—and failed. They won't succeed now either. In the end, Pride is a demonstration, whether with twenty people or tens of thousands, but it will happen,' the organisers wrote last month. 'We're not just fighting for the Budapest Pride March or the LGBTQ community—we're fighting for the right of all Hungarians to protest, speak their minds, and stand up for themselves.'
