Despite Orbán's ban, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Budapest for pride – photos
In the Hungarian capital Budapest, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in a pride parade in support of the LGBTQ+ community, despite a ban imposed by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. This was reported by Euronews.
This is the 30th anniversary of the Budapest Pride. In particular, among the participants were members of the European Parliament.
After the authorities banned it, the Budapest Pride acquired a new meaning and became a symbol of resistance against the government's constant restrictions on freedom of assembly and human rights, the media notes.
In conversations with journalists, several participants said that they had previously been indifferent to or even opposed to pride events, but this year they decided to join them to defend civil liberties and demonstrate solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
Although the pride parade was officially banned, the police allowed two events by supporters of far-right views to take place. The youth movement "64 Counties" held an event in the same square where the pride parade participants later gathered, and the small parliamentary party "Our Motherland" announced a counter-march along the same route as the LGBTQ+ event.
The leader of the leading opposition party "Tisza", Péter Magyar, did not participate in the pride parade, explaining that he was on vacation with his three sons. At the same time, he supported the event and criticized Orbán on his Facebook page.
"Our country can no longer have a prime minister who does not protect and represent all Hungarians," Madjar said.
- In the run-up to the pride parade, the Hungarian authorities threatened participants with arrest.