Budapest Pride should be held behind closed doors for ‘child protection’, says top official
Two men kiss at Budapest Pride Parade in 2024. (FERENC ISZA/AFP via Getty Images)
The Hungarian prime minister’s chief of staff has called for Budapest Pride to be held indoors for “child protection” reasons.
Gergely Gulyás made the comment while speaking to news site 24.h, on Wednesday (26 February). The goal this year for Pride would be to “enforce the point of view of child protection”, he said, adding that there would be no such risk with if it was “held in a closed space”.
PM Viktor Orbán told supporters last week that Pride organisers “should not even bother” this year because the event would be a “waste of money and time”.
Orbán, who has been in power since 2010, and between 1998 and 2002 before that, has a long history of attacking LGBTQ+ rights. He has amended the constitution to change the definition of family and effectively ban adoption by same-sex couples, and put in place a law allowing citizens to “report” same-sex parents to the authorities.
Registered partnerships for same-sex couples was legalised in Hungary in 2009, however, Orbán passed legislation that constitutionally banned same-sex marriage, and his anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law outlawed the “promotion” of queer lives to minors.
He has also stripped away trans rights by ending legal recognition for transgender men and women. His regressive views have been praised by US president Donald Trump.
Budapest Pride is due to be held on 22 June.
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