Hungary’s tens of thousands of marchs as 2SLGBTQ+ rally becomes anti-government protest
Thousands of protesters marched in the Hungary capital on Saturday as banned 2SLGBTQ+ rights rally influx into mass demonstrations against the government.
Crowds spread throughout the city in a square near Budapest City Hall, waving rainbow flags, and some carried signs of mocking Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“It’s not just gay,” said Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the parades.
A slogan reads: “Until everyone is free, we are not free.”
The group’s counter-protesters tried to sabotage the march, but police kept them out and diverted the march route to avoid conflict.
Over the past decade, Oban’s nationalist government has gradually weakened the rights of the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and its lawmakers passed a law in March that allowed the ban on pride parades and cited the need to protect children.
Opponents see the move as part of a broader crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of the national election next year Orban will face strong opposition to challengers.
The organizers said the participants came from 30 countries, including 70 members of the European Parliament.
More than 30 embassies expressed support for the march, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to keep the march moving forward.
Seventy Hungarian civil society organizations, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparent International Hungary and the Hungarian Helsinki Commission, published an open letter Friday in support of the march, saying the laws that led to a police ban “work to intimidate the entire society.”
Mayor supports the parade
“The right to assemble is a basic human right, and I don’t think it should be banned. Just because someone doesn’t like the reason you went out on the streets, or they don’t agree with it, you still have the right to do it,” said Krisztina Aranyi, another marcher.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony has tried to circumvent the law by organizing a march as a municipal event, which he said does not require a permit. However, the police banned the event, believing that the event falls within the scope of the Child Protection Act.
Orban’s government promoted the agenda of Christian conservatism and provided some clues on Friday about what participants expected when warning about the “legal consequences” of organizing and participating in the march.
Earlier this week, Attorney General Bence Tuzson warned in a letter to some foreign embassies in Budapest that the incident of organizing the ban should be sentenced to one year in prison, and that on the charge of participating is a misdemeanor.
Laws that prohibit pride allow police to impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify those participating. Asked about the threat of one year in prison, Caraxson said in a media briefing Friday that the verdict would only increase his visibility.
“But I can’t take it seriously,” he said.
Zoltan Novak, an analyst at the Center for Fair Politics Analyst, said March will become a key topic in political discourse to allow the Auban administration to retake the initiative from the opposition and mobilize its electoral base.
“In the past 15 years, Fides has decided which themes dominate the political world,” he said, noting that this has become even more difficult as Orban’s party faces challenges from the Tisza party of opposition leader Peter Magyar, who led 15 points in a recent poll.
Tisza has been avoiding a strong stance on gay rights issues, but has not responded to Reuters asking if it believes the Pride Parade is legal, but said those participating in the state deserve protection from the state.
“Peter Magyar calls on Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday and other days, even if it means opposing the arbitrary nature of power,” the party’s media office said. Maya himself would not participate.
