Hungarian police on Thursday, June 19, banned the country’s main Pride march from taking place in Budapest on June 28, but the capital’s mayor defied them, vowing it would still go ahead. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws which have been criticized at home and across the European Union for curtailing the rights of the country’s sexual and gender minorities in the name of “child protection.”
“The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time,” the police said on their website. Police stated that the ban was necessary because the march would conflict with recently passed legislation. They said any appeal against the decision must be lodged with the central European country’s supreme court within three days.
Within moments, Budapest’s liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the interdiction. “Given that the city council did not make its announcement within the ambit of the law on gatherings, this ban has no value,” Karacsony wrote on Facebook. “Budapest city hall will organize the Budapest Pride march on June 28 as a city event. Period,” he wrote.
The police decision came three days after Karacsony announced that Budapest would organize the march in an attempt to sidestep a recently adopted law. In mid-March, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill aimed at banning any gathering that violates an anti-LGBTQ+ law adopted in 2021. The 2021 law prohibits the “display or promotion of homosexuality” to under-18s.
Protests
One senior government figure on Wednesday accused the mayor of “trying to cheat.” “All events of this type have to be announced, and the police have the right to ban them,” said Gergely Gulyas, head of Orban’s office. “No serious legal expert would try to dispute that.”
In its decision published on Thursday, police said that the march “by its very nature cannot be held without the representation” of people belonging to the LGBTQ+ community and that under-18s could be present along the route. “If it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the display is not taking place in the presence of persons under 18 years of age, the assembly would be in breach of the prohibition of the government,” the police said.
Hungarian lawmakers in April overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes that strengthened the legal foundations for banning the Pride march. The government said the annual event could be held at an enclosed location like a stadium, out of sight of children.
The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Thousands of people blocked bridges in the capital, demanding that the Pride ban law be repealed. Several EU lawmakers have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is also due to attend the march, as are ministers from several European Union countries, the organisers said.
Attendees risk a fine of up to €500 ($570), which the Hungarian authorities say will be channelled into “child protection” projects. Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them.
