Tens of thousands have gathered for the Budapest Pride march, defying Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s legal threats against LGBTQ rights activists.<\/p>\n
Organisers of the march hope for a record attendance, despite mounting pressure from nationalist conservative politicians and police to stop any display of pro-LGBTQ material.<\/p>\n
The police issued a ban in line with a new “child protection” law restricting gatherings considered to be promoting homosexuality. One woman said she was attending because she wants a country of “diversity” for her children.<\/p>\n
Orban downplayed the possibility of violent clashes between police and participants, but warned of potential legal repercussions for attendees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
“Of course, the police could break up such events, because they have the authority to do so, but Hungary is a civilised country, a civic society. We don’t hurt each other,” he told state radio on Friday.<\/p>\n
“There will be legal consequences, but it cannot reach the level of physical abuse.”<\/p>\n
Attendees risk a fine of up to \u20ac500 (\u00a3427; $586), with police empowered to use facial recognition technology to identify them.<\/p>\n
Organisers could face a one-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n
Luca, 34, who is planning to attend with her mother Enik\u00f6, said they want a country of “diversity” which she said they don’t currently have.<\/p>\n
“We have a law that bans people who are different from others to gather. This is why we are here. Because it’s hurting our rights. That’s why we came.”<\/p>\n
She told the BBC she is worried about her four-year-old daughter’s future living “in a country where she can’t love anyone she wants to”.<\/p>\n
Barnab\u00e1s said he was attending to “express my solidarity with the LGBTQ community… because I know what it feels like not being seen and to be treated like an outcast, which obviously everyone here is not”. <\/p>\n
Not part of the community himself, the 22-year-old said he comes from the countryside, where people “are more likely to be xenophobic and homophobic”.<\/p>\n
EU equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib, a former Belgian foreign minister, is in Budapest and expected to join the march.<\/p>\n
On Friday, she posted a picture showing her standing with the liberal Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony in front of a rainbow flag symbolising gay rights.<\/p>\n
The Pride march “will be a powerful symbol of the strength of the civil society”, she wrote on X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Dozens of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were also expected to be in attendance.<\/p>\n
Finnish MEP Li Andersson said it was important for her and her European colleagues to be there to show solidarity with both Hungary’s LGBTQI community and civil society.<\/p>\n
“It’s important to emphasise that the reason why we are here is not only Pride – this is about the fundamental rights of all of us.”<\/p>\n
She added that she thinks Orban is using arguments on family values as a pretext to ban the march.<\/p>\n
“[It’s] a march that is fundamentally about equality and about equal rights for anyone – for everybody, about the right to love and live with whoever you choose. <\/p>\n
“And I think that’s a core value that any free and democratic society should respect.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Karacsony, a member of Hungary’s opposition, has insisted no-one attending the march can face any reprisals as it has been co-organised by city hall, and as such is a municipal event that does not require police approval.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the Pride, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asked the Orban government not to block the march.<\/p>\n
Orban was unfazed, asking her “to refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs” of EU member countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tens of thousands have gathered for the Budapest Pride march, defying Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s legal threats against LGBTQ rights activists. Organisers of the march hope for a record…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[1565,6350,6353,6352,1509,2882,6351,4094],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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