The Hungarian Parliament building in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Dennis Jarvis; from Flickr)
Hungarian lawmakers passed a bill March 18 that would ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them.
The Associated Press reported thousands of protesters gathered outside the Hungarian parliament in Budapest, the country’s capital, after MPs approved the measure by a 136-27 vote margin. The protesters later blocked traffic on the nearby Margaret Bridge over the Danube River.
“Not only does this law introduce discriminatory and simply evil restrictions on freedom of assembly, but it was also adopted in a highly undemocratic manner, through an extraordinary procedure that did not allow for any real debate,” said Tamás Dombos of the Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBTQ and intersex rights group, in a statement that Outright International released after the vote. “They proposed it yesterday, and the parliament adopted it today.”
Amnesty International Hungary Director Dávid Vig also criticized the vote.
“This law is a full-frontal attack on the LGBTI community and a blatant violation of Hungary’s obligations to prohibit discrimination and guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said Vig.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and members of his government in recent weeks said they would ban public Pride marches in Budapest. The 30th Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on June 28.
“The Hungarian government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority,” said Budapest Pride on Tuesday in a statement the Washington Blade published. “Therefore, as a movement, we will fight for the freedom of all Hungarians to protest!”
Orbán and members of his ruling Fidesz party over the last decade have moved to curtail LGBTQ and intersex rights in Hungary.
A law that bans legal recognition of transgender and intersex people took effect in 2020. Hungarian MPs that year also effectively banned same-sex couples from adopting children and defined marriage in the constitution as between a man and a woman.
An anti-LGBTQ propaganda law took effect in 2021. The European Commission sued Hungary, which is a member of the European Union, over it.
MPs in 2023 approved the “snitch on your gay neighbor” bill that would have allowed Hungarians to anonymously report same-sex couples who are raising children. The Budapest Metropolitan Government Office in 2023 fined Lira Konyv, the country’s second-largest bookstore chain, 12 million forints ($33,001.94), for selling copies of British author Alice Oseman’s “Heartstopper.”
Former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, who is gay, participated in the Budapest Pride march in 2024 and 2023. Pressman was also a vocal critic of Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
“We will not be intimidated, we will not give in to bullying,” said Dombos. “We are celebrating Pride for the 30th time in Budapest this year.”
“There was Pride before the Orbán governments, and there will be Pride after,” he added.
Elections will take place in Hungary in 2026.
Budapest Pride spokesperson Johanna Majercsik earlier this month said the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a Budapest-based human rights NGO, has offered their organization legal advice.
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