Tens of thousands gather to mark 30th anniversary of Budapest Pride despite Orban ban

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Hungary’s capital on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of Budapest Pride, defying a government-imposed ban on the event.

Among the crowd were members of the European Parliament, international supporters, and many so-called “first priders”.

Following the ban, Budapest Pride has taken on new meaning, becoming a powerful symbol of resistance against the government’s ongoing restrictions on freedom of assembly and human rights, according to participants on Saturday.

Euronews journalists on the ground spoke with several attendees who said they had previously been indifferent — or even opposed — to Pride events, but chose to participate this year to stand up for civil liberties and show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.

People taking part in Budapest Pride alongside spectators – Euronews

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was also in Budapest for the Pride march. In a video posted to her Instagram, she accused Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of making a desperate attempt to ban the event.

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Thunberg described Pride as both a protest and a celebration of love, calling the ban “another fascist attack on human rights.”

Pride banned, far-right march allowed

While Pride was officially banned, police allowed a far-right march to go ahead. The far-right 64 Counties Youth Movement held an event on the same square in Budapest where Pride participants later gathered.

Meanwhile, the Our Homeland Movement—a small far-right parliamentary party—announced a counter-march along the same route as the municipal Pride event. Both far-right events received police approval.

Police officers try to control traffic during Pride – Euronews

Pride without the main opposition leader

Peter Magyar is currently on holiday with his three sons.

However, the leader of Hungary’s main opposition party TISZA posted a strong message of support on Facebook, saying: “We build a country together, with all Hungarians, where it does not matter where you come from, what you believe in, who you love.”

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“I call all police officers to protect all Hungarian citizens from the arbitrariness of a fallen power.”

Speculation circulated as to the “real” reason why he missed Pride. However, Magyar explained it is because his sons play football, so they had to organise their family holiday around summer sports camps.

Political analysts had warned that by banning Pride, Orbán was likely attempting to provoke Magyar.

The party’s support base is diverse, bringing together people from across the political spectrum. Magyar has repeatedly emphasised that he aims to represent all Hungarians, not just one ideological side.

For Fidesz, forcing Magyar to take a clearer stance on liberal issues—such as LGBTQ+ rights—could be politically advantageous.

“Pride is already a success for Fidesz,” political analyst Zoltán Novák told Euronews, “because they’ve managed to make the public debate revolve around an issue they own, framed in their language, and on a political topic where they enjoy majority support.”

Crowd heading to Elisabeth bridge in Budapest – Euronews

As Fidesz continues to lose ground to its centre-right rival, the TISZA, it has struggled to counter its challenger’s strategy.

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His campaign has focused squarely on the everyday concerns of Hungarians—rising economic hardship, and the deteriorating state of healthcare and education—while contrasting them with the corruption scandals and growing wealth of the Fidesz elite, including members of Orbán’s family.

This approach has triggered a sharp shift in public opinion. According to the latest poll by the reputable Median Institute, TISZA is now ahead of Fidesz by 15%. Meanwhile, government-aligned pollsters—normally active and vocal—have fallen into an unusual silence.

TISZA’s Magyar—formerly married to Fidesz’s ex-justice minister—has deliberately avoided polarising political issues such as LGBTQ+ rights or topics that fail to resonate broadly with voters, like press freedom.

Instead, he has focused on pressing, everyday concerns, including inflation, corruption, the state of healthcare, and failing infrastructure, such as Hungary’s rail system.

According to political analyst Zoltán Novák, Fidesz introduced the so-called “Pride laws” in an attempt to corner Magyar into taking a stance that could alienate either conservative or liberal voters.

While Magyar successfully sidestepped the trap, remnants of the liberal-green opposition stepped in to defend the issue, allowing Fidesz to partially regain control of the political narrative.

Thousands party at Budapest Pride in clear message to Orban

2 hours ago Share Save Nick Thorpe BBC Budapest Correspondent Reporting from Budapest Share Save

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Budapest advertises itself as a party town. On Saturday, the party spilled out onto the streets, and occupied, in the scorching heat of summer, the Elizabeth Bridge and the river banks and downtown areas on both shores of the Danube. Between 100,000 and 200,000 mostly young people danced and sang their way from Pest to Buda. A distance that usually takes only 20 minutes on foot stretched to three hours. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ban, many Budapest Pride participants told me, spurred them to attend an event they usually stay away from. Last year, just 35,000 took part. Many banners mocked the Hungarian prime minister. It was like a peaceful revenge by some of those he has declared war on during his past 15 years in power. “In my history class, I learnt enough, to recognise a dictatorship. You don’t need to illustrate it – Vik!” read one hand-made banner. “I’m so bored of Fascism,” read another. T-shirts with Orban’s image, in bright eyeshadow and lipstick, were everywhere.

Reuters A mocking, glammed-up image of PM Viktor Orban adorned T-shirts

While the LGBT community with its vivid paraphernalia made up the core of the march, this year’s Pride turned into a celebration of human rights and solidarity. “We don’t exactly look as though we were banned!” a beaming Budapest mayor, Gergely Karacsony, told the crowd, in a speech in front of the Budapest Technical University. Today’s march could go down as the crowning moment of his political career. A city hall starved of funds and in constant struggle with the central government dared to host an event the government tried to ban, and won – for now at least. “In fact, we look like we’re peacefully and freely performing a big, fat show to a puffed-up and hateful power. The message is clear: they have no power over us!” Karacsony continued.

Nick Thorpe, BBC All sorts of people – across the generations – turned up for the Pride march

Among the attendees was Finnish MEP Li Andersson, who felt Orban was using arguments on family values as a pretext to ban the march. “It’s important to emphasise that the reason why we are here is not only Pride – this is about the fundamental rights of all of us,” she said. The ban was based on a new law, passed by the big majority held by Orban’s Fidesz party in parliament, subordinating the freedom of assembly to a 2021 Child Protection law that equated homosexuality with paedophilia, and therefore banned the portrayal or promotion of homosexuality in places where children might see it. The police justified a ban on Saturday’s march on the grounds children might witness it. In response, the mayor cited a 2001 law stating events organised by councils do not fall under the right of assembly. In the end, the police officers present at the march kept a discreet presence, looking on mournfully at a party from which they were excluded. In another part of the city, Orban attended the graduation ceremony of 162 new police and customs officers, and new officials of the National Directorate-General for Policing Aliens. “Order does not come into being by itself, it must be created, because without it civilised life will be lost,” Orban told the students and their families. Earlier, he and other prominent Fidesz officials posted pictures of themselves with their children and grandchildren, in an attempt to reclaim the “pride” word. “Post a picture, to show them what we’re proud of,” Alexandra Szentkiralyi, the head of the Fidesz faction in the Budapest Council, posted on Facebook, alongside a picture of herself in a rather plain “Hungary” T-shirt. The police presence was restrained in Budapest on Saturday, but temporary cameras installed ahead of the march and mounted on police vehicles recorded the whole event.

Getty Images A vast crowd poured across the famous Elisabeth Bridge

Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through Hungary’s capital as a banned LGBTQIA+ rights rally has swelled into a mass anti-government demonstration.

In a major show of opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, crowds set off across one of the main bridges, waving rainbow flags and with some people carrying signs mocking Mr Orban.

Eszter Rein Bodi, one of the marchers, said: “This is about much more. Not just about homosexuality … This is the last moment to stand up for our rights.”

One sign read: “None of us are free until everyone is free.”

Protest signs against Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban as people gather for Budapest’s Pride March. (Reuters: Bernadett Szabo)

Mr Orban’s government has gradually curtailed the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community in the past decade, with a law passed in March that allows for the ban of Pride marches, citing the need to protect children.

Mr Orban’s opponents see the move as part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of a national election next year when the veteran prime minister — whose party has dominated Hungary’s political scene for 15 years — will face a strong opposition challenger.

Small groups of far-right counter-protesters attempted to disrupt the peaceful march, but police separated them and diverted the route of the march to avoid any clashes.

Mr Orban and his government, who promote a Christian-conservative agenda and have championed family values, have defended the restrictions, saying the need to protect children supersedes all other rights.

People were waving rainbow flags as the march moved through the city. (Reuters: Lisa Leutner)

The prime minister posted a photo with his grandchildren on the morning of the march, with the caption: “This is what I am proud of.”

Marchers included students, families and people from the countryside who said they had never attended a rally before.

The Erzsébet Bridge, built to carry six lanes of traffic, was engulfed with people.

Local media sites including 444.hu and Magyar Hang estimated the crowd at 100,000, though Reuters could not confirm that figure.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony told the rally that the message was “clear”; that the government had “no power over us”.

March organisers said participants had arrived from 30 different countries, including 70 members of the European Parliament.

More than 30 embassies expressed support for the march and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Hungarian authorities to let the parade go ahead.

‘Legal consequences’

Budapest’s mayor had tried to circumvent the law banning the march by organising Pride as a municipal event, which he said did not need a permit.

Police however banned the event, arguing that it fell under the scope of the child protection law.

Mr Orban provided some clues on Friday about what participants could expect when he warned of “legal consequences” for organising and attending the march.

Demonstrators fill Budapest’s six-lane Erzsébet Bridge. (Reuters: Bernadett Szabo)

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Bence Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organising a prohibited event was punishable by one year in jail, while attending counted as a misdemeanour.

The law that allows for the ban of Pride lets police impose fines and use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend.

Mr Orban’s attacks on Pride initially increased his support, political analyst Gabor Torok wrote on social media, but he said opinion shifted after the police ban and the legal debates surrounding the march.

Mr Orban’s dominance and ability to set the political agenda has faced increasing challenges from centre-right Opposition Leader Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party, which had a 15-point lead over Mr Orban’s Fidesz in a poll this month.

Tisza, which has been avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, did not specify, in response to Reuters questions, whether it believed the Pride march was lawful, but said those attending deserved the state’s protection.

Reuters

Budapest Pride draws huge crowds in defiance of Orban legal threats

8 hours ago Share Save Nick Thorpe BBC Budapest Correspondent Stuart Lau BBC News Share Save

Reuters People cross Elisabeth Bridge during the Pride March in Budapest

Tens of thousands have gathered for the Budapest Pride march, defying Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s legal threats against LGBTQ rights activists. Organisers estimated that a record 200,000 people may have taken part despite mounting pressure from nationalist conservative politicians and police to stop any display of pro-LGBTQ material. The police issued a ban in line with a new “child protection” law restricting gatherings considered to be promoting homosexuality. Orban downplayed the possibility of violent clashes between police and participants, but warned of potential legal repercussions for attendees.

Reuters

“Of course, the police could break up such events, because they have the authority to do so, but Hungary is a civilised country, a civic society. We don’t hurt each other,” he told state radio on Friday. “There will be legal consequences, but it cannot reach the level of physical abuse.” Attendees risk a fine of up to €500 (£427; $586), with police empowered to use facial recognition technology to identify them. Organisers could face a one-year prison sentence. Luca, 34, who is planning to attend with her mother Enikö, said they want a country of “diversity” which she said they don’t currently have. “We have a law that bans people who are different from others to gather. This is why we are here. Because it’s hurting our rights. That’s why we came.” She told the BBC she is worried about her four-year-old daughter’s future living “in a country where she can’t love anyone she wants to”. Barnabás said he was attending to “express my solidarity with the LGBTQ community… because I know what it feels like not being seen and to be treated like an outcast, which obviously everyone here is not”. Not part of the community himself, the 22-year-old said he comes from the countryside, where people “are more likely to be xenophobic and homophobic”. EU equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib, a former Belgian foreign minister, is in Budapest and expected to join the march. On Friday, she posted a picture showing her standing with the liberal Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony in front of a rainbow flag symbolising gay rights. The Pride march “will be a powerful symbol of the strength of the civil society”, she wrote on X.

Reuters A pro-LGBT placard depicting Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban

Dozens of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were also expected to be in attendance. Finnish MEP Li Andersson said it was important for her and her European colleagues to be there to show solidarity with both Hungary’s LGBTQI community and civil society. “It’s important to emphasise that the reason why we are here is not only Pride – this is about the fundamental rights of all of us.” She added that she thinks Orban is using arguments on family values as a pretext to ban the march. “[It’s] a march that is fundamentally about equality and about equal rights for anyone – for everybody, about the right to love and live with whoever you choose. “And I think that’s a core value that any free and democratic society should respect.”

Reuters People gathered to march from across the country – and Europe – in solidarity with Hungary’s Pride

A government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride parade backfired on Saturday when more than 100,000 people marched through the Hungarian capital, far more than have taken part in previous such events.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday warned people to stay away from the banned parade, threatening “clear legal consequences” for anyone taking part. Government warnings, however, only turned what is usually a low-key event attended by a few thousand L.G.B.T.Q. activists and their friends into a mass rally against Mr. Orban’s government.

“What is most painful for me is to see how stupid they think we all are,” said Edit Rocza, 46, a special-education teacher who traveled from southern Hungary to take part in the march for the first time. She said she was outraged by Mr. Orban’s claims that the event had been banned to protect children from “homosexual propaganda.”

That, she added, was “just a distraction from all the stealing and other real problems we have in this country.”