Thousands march for LGBT rights in Hungary parade
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Rising anger over the policies of Hungary’s right-wing government filled the streets of the country’s capital Saturday as thousands of LGBT supporters marched in the annual Budapest Pride parade.
March organizers expected record crowds at the event and called on participants to express their opposition to recent steps by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that critics say stigmatize sexual minorities in the Central European country.
Budapest Pride spokesperson Jojo Majercsik said this year’s march is not just a celebration and remembrance of the historical struggles of the LGBT movement but a protest against Orban’s current policies targeting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
The march came after a controversial law passed by Hungary’s parliament in June prohibited the display of content to minors that depicts homosexuality or gender change. The measures were attached to a bill allowing tougher penalties for pedophiles.
Hungary’s government says its policies seek to protect children. But critics of the legislation compare it to Russia’s gay propaganda law of 2013 and say it conflates homosexuality with pedophilia as part of a campaign ploy to mobilize conservative voters ahead of elections next spring.
The legislation was met with fierce opposition by many politicians in the European Union, of which Hungary is a member. The Executive Commission of the 27-nation bloc launched two separate legal proceedings against Hungary’s government last week over what it called infringements on LGBT rights.
Saturday’s march wound through the center of Budapest and crossed the Danube River on one of the iconic structures connecting the city’s two halves: Liberty Bridge.
Mira Nagy, a 16-year-old Pride attendee and member of Hungary’s LGBT community, said this year’s Pride march has special meaning.
“This year is much more significant, because now there are real stakes,” she said. “Our situation is pretty bad … My plan is that if things get even worse, I will leave Hungary.”
The law also requires that only civic organizations approved by the government can provide sexual education in schools and limits the availability of media content and literature to minors that discusses sexual orientation.
Pride marcher Anasztazia Orosz said that would inhibit young people from accessing important information and validation of their own sexual orientation.
“It was really difficult for me to come out, and the only thing that made it easier was that I found a book of stories on LGBT topics,” Orosz said. “That’s how I learned that what I’m feeling is something real, that I’m not different.”
On Wednesday, Orban announced the government would hold a national referendum to demonstrate public support for the law. The poll will ask Hungarians whether children should be introduced to topics of sexual orientation in schools and whether gender reassignment should be promoted or depicted to children.
Yet Majercsik, the Pride spokesperson, said the questions are “openly transphobic and homophobic” and part of a “propaganda campaign” by the government to incite resentment against the LGBT community.
In Berlin, around 65,000 revelers marched for LGBTQ rights at the city’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration on Saturday, more than three times as many as expected.
It was the biggest demonstration in Berlin since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
“LGBT-free zones” have been declared in parts of Poland.
Lederer said the situation in the two EU members “sends shivers down my back.”
The senator also noted that the pandemic had been particularly hard for some gay and lesbian people at home as shelters were closed. He said “there is still much work to be done.”
Police spokesman Martin Dams initially told The Associated Press that an estimated 35,000 people were taking part in the parade, but this figure was revised upwards later Saturday. Organizers put the figure at 80,000.