Budapest Pride: Thousands of marchers defy police ban

Tens of thousands LGBTQ+ rights supporters took part in the Budapest Pride march on Saturday, in defiance of a police ban and threats from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"We believe there are 180,000 to 200,000 people attending," Pride president Viktoria Radvanyi told the AFP news agency. "It is hard to estimate because there have never been so many people at Budapest Pride."

Local media sites, including 444.hu and Magyar Hang, estimated the crowd to be closer to 100,000, still far more than the previous record turnout of 35,000 people.

Orban has restricted the rights of the LGBTQ+ community over the past few years, and his party's lawmakers passed a law in March allowing the ban of Pride marches, claiming it was motivated by the need to protect children.

However, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony declared the Pride parade a municipal event, arguing that this designation exempts it from the assembly law and renders the police ban invalid.

European support

The annual event has now come to symbolize resistance to a general repression of civil society in Hungary under Orban's nationalist government, which is facing a growing challenge from center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar's Tisza party ahead of elections next year.

"This is about much more, not just about homosexuality,...This is the last moment to stand up for our rights," Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, told the Reuters news agency.

"This isn't just about LGBQT+ rights, it's also about the right to assemble and about standing up for each other and not allowing [the
government] to oppress us," another participant, Blanka Molnar, told the AP news agency. 

More than 30 embassies have also voiced support for the march, which was due to be attended by European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament.

Ahead of the parade, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities not to block the march.

"Our Union is one of equality and non-discrimination," von der Leyen wrote in a statement. She called these "core values" that "must be respected at all times, in all Member States."

Anyone attending the march, however, risks being accused of a misdemeanor, while organizing such an event could carry the penalty of a one-year jail sentence, according to a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson.

The so-called child-protection legislation that allowed the ban to be imposed also allows police to hand out fines and to use facial recognition technology to identify attendees.  

Civil society under pressure in Hungary

Over the past decade, Orban's government has frequently been at loggerheads with the EU over its increasing repression of civil liberties and press freedoms under the guise of protecting "Christian" values. Orban has also used nationalism and far-right rhetoric to reinforce his grip on power since reclaiming his position as prime minister in 2010.

The ban on the Pride march is being seen by opponents as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of next year's elections, at which Orban's government is expected to face a stiff challenge from Magyar, whose party has been leading in opinion polls.

The Tisza party, while avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, nonetheless called on the government to protect anyone attending the march.

"Peter Magyar has called on the Hungarian authorities and police to protect the Hungarian people this Saturday, and on other days as well, even if it means standing up against the arbitrariness of power," its press office said. Magyar himself has not planned to attend.

Edited by: Kieran Burke and Darko Janjevic