Hungary’s right-wing government is attempting to ban Budapest Pride
Crowds of LGBTQ+ activists march across Budapest. (Getty)
Hungary’s ruling party has submitted an anti-LGBTQ bill to ban Budapest Pride, which is approaching its 30th anniversary.
The right-wing populist Fidesz Party, led by virulently anti-LGBTQ+ prime minister Viktor Orbán, submitted a bill to parliament on Monday (17 March) which proposes fines of up to 200,000 forints (£420/$550) for organisers of Budapest Pride, and anyone attending, claiming the event could be considered harmful to children.
“The proposed bill amends the law governing the right of assembly by stipulating that it is banned to hold an assembly that violates the ban set out in the law on the protection of children,” Reuters reported the legislation would say.
The anti-LGBTQ+ bill also calls for police to use face-recognition cameras to identify anyone at the event, which is due to take place on 22 June.
LGBTQ+ rights in Hungary are under attack
Pride organisers told Reuters that they still intend to hold the event and the bill reveals the need for the march to be greater than ever.
Speaking to news site 24.h last month, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, called for Pride to be held inside for “child protection” reasons.
Orbán had already said the organisers “should not even bother” this year because the event would be a “waste of money and time”.
Last year, over 30,000 LGBTQ+ people and allies marched in Budapest Pride, according to local media.
One of them was the US ambassador David Pressman, who is gay and has twin sons with his partner, and who accused prime minister Viktor Orbán of using a “machinery of fear” to demean queer people.
While homosexuality is legal in Hungary, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is outlawed, marriage is defined as between a man and a woman. Transgender men cannot change their legal gender and queer couples are not allowed to adopt.
Orbán’s right-wing government has been cracking down on the LGBTQ+ community for the past few years.
In 2021, he passed a law banning discussion of LGBTQ+ people in schools and in the media, similar to Russia’s “anti-propaganda” bill. In response, the EU launched a legal action against Hungary and froze funding to the country.
But at the beginning of 2024, Orbán doubled down on his stance, saying “no money in the world” would make him accept what he called LGBTQ+ propaganda.
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