The annual Budapest Pride march this year is expected to go ahead in the face of a police ban and government hostility.

Organizers said they expect tens of thousands of people from dozens of nations to attend the event.The annual event has now come to symbolize resistance to a general repression of civil society in Hungary under the nationalist government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which is facing a growing challenge from center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar’s Tisza party ahead of elections next year

Big attendance expected at Budapest Pride despite police ban

The annual Budapest Pride march this year is expected to go ahead in the face of a police ban and government hostility. Organizers said they expect tens of thousands of people from dozens of nations to attend the event.

Rainbow flag, Hungarian flag at a Pride march in Budapest in 2021
Pride marches have gone ahead in Budapest in recent years, as here in 2021, despite government Opposition

LGBTQ+ rights supporters from some 30 countries are expected to join the Budapest Pride march on Saturday, defying a police ban imposed under legislation introduced earlier this year that forbids the exposure of young people to non-heterosexual lifestyles.

The annual event has now come to symbolize resistance to a general repression of civil society in Hungary under the nationalist government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which is facing a growing challenge from center-right opposition leader Peter Magyar’s Tisza party ahead of elections next year.

Budapest Pride Parade set to draw record numbers despite ban

04:05
European support
More than 30 embassies have voiced support for the march, which will also be attended by European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib and about 70 members of the European Parliament.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead.

“Our Union is one of equality and non-discrimination,” von der Leyen wrote in a statement. She called these “core values” that “must be respected at all times, in all Member States.”

Anyone attending the march, however, risks being accused of a misdemeanor, while organizing such an event could carry the penalty of a one-year jail sentence, according to a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest by Justice Minister Bence Tuzson.

The so-called child-protection legislation that allowed the ban to be imposed also allows police to hand out fines and to use facial recognition technology to identify attendees.

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