As the rainbow flag rises, thousands of LGBTQ Hungarians and their supporters are brought to the streets of Budapest for a pride parade, ignoring the government ban and the legal threats from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to activists.
Organizers of the 30th edition of Pride Parade in the Hungarian capital said more than 100,000 people marched from Budapest City Hall and crossed the city center before crossing the Danube River on the Erzsébet Bridge in the capital.
Lisa Litner/Reuters
“It’s not only gay, but gay,…it’s the last moment to defend our rights,” Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, told Reuters.
A slogan reads: “Until everyone is free, we are not free.”
Police moved the crowd out of the planned route to separate it from a small swathe of far-right counter-protesters.
Orbán passed a law in March through parliament, which made it a crime to hold or participate in activities to “depict or promote” homosexuality against minors under the age of 18.
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP via Getty Images 
Recent Hungary law allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify individuals participating in prohibited activities. Being caught could result in a fine of up to 200,000 ($586). The organizer faces one year in prison.
But on Friday, Pride organizers, along with Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib and European Parliament vice president and vice president of European Parliament Nicolae Stefanuta, said the parade will be held on Saturday despite official threats to attend participants.
“The government has been fighting against the enemy and they must protect the Hungarian people … this time, it is the goal of sexual minorities.” “We don’t think there should be first-class and second-class citizens, so we decided to stick to this incident.”
Participants on Saturday remained provocative.
“I’m proud to be gay…and I’m so scared that the government wants to let us down. I’m surprised there are so many people and I want to cry.” A 66-year-old participant named him only, Zoltan told AFP.
Peter Kohalmi/AFP via Getty Images 
A woman told CBS news partner BBC she attended the conference because she wanted a country that brought “diversity” to children.
“We have a law that prohibits people who are different from others. That’s why we are here. Because it hurts our rights. That’s why we come.”
She told the BBC that she was worried about her 4-year-old daughter’s future life “in a country where she can’t love the person she wants.”
Critics of Pride bans against the LGBTQ+ community and other Hungarian legislation say the policies are reminiscent of similar restrictions on Russian sexual minorities.
Orbán is regarded as the closest ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the EU, banning homosexual adoption in recent years and banning any LGBTQ+ content, including in television, film, advertising and literature, for minors.
His government believes that contact with such content will have a negative impact on children’s growth. But opponents say the moves are part of a broader effort to replace sexual minorities and consolidate their conservative base.
Lisa Litner/Reuters 
Albarn spoke on state radio on Friday, downplaying the possibility of violent clashes between police and participants, but warned that pride in attendance would have “legal consequences.”
“Of course, police can break down such incidents because they have the right to do so, but Hungary is a civilized country, a civil society. We don’t hurt each other,” he said.
More than 70 European Parliament and other officials from European countries are expected to participate in Saturday’s march.
European Commissioner Lahbib said on Friday that “everyone is in Budapest because Pride marchers ignore the government’s ban.
“The EU is not neutral to hate,” she said. “We cannot remain passive. We cannot tolerate things that cannot be tolerated.”
Counter demonstration
On Thursday, the radical right-wing party Our Land Movement announced that it had asked police to approve conventions at many locations throughout the city, many of which are the same as Pride Parade.
A neo-Nazi group said it will also gather at Budapest City Hall on Saturday, where the Pride Parade will leave. The organization announced that it is welcome to participate only in the demonstrations of “white, Christian, heterosexual men and women”.
Balint Szentgallay/Nurphoto by Getty Images 
A woman named Katalin told AFP on Saturday that she agreed to the ban, although she hopes there will be no conflict.
“It’s disgusting…it’s becoming a fashion to show off oneself,” she said.
