Budapest mayor says city will organise Budapest Pride, circumventing Orban’s legislation

Budapest will host Hungary's Pride march on June 28 as a city-organised event celebrating freedom, announced the liberal mayor of Budapest on Monday. This decision aims to bypass a law that permits police to ban LGBTQ+ marches.

In March, Hungary’s parliament, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s right-wing Fidesz Party holds a significant majority, enacted legislation that allows the banning of LGBTQ+ marches under the pretext of child protection. The law also allows the use of facial recognition cameras by police to identify attendees.

Despite this new legislation, Pride organisers declared that the 30th Pride march in Budapest will continue, and on Monday, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony stated in a video that the city would collaborate with the organisers, according to ‘Reuters’. He emphasised that as a municipal event celebrating freedom, “no permits from authorities are needed.”

Karacsony highlighted that Budapest’s history revolves around freedom and solidarity. “In this city, there are no first- or second-class citizens. We understand that true freedom is shared,” he proclaimed. “Therefore, neither freedom nor love can be prohibited, and neither can Budapest Pride.”

There was no immediate response from government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs to a Reuters request for comment.

Facing a tough election in 2026, Orban advanced constitutional amendments in April, declaring Hungary acknowledges only male and female sexes. His government, adhering to a Christian conservative agenda, has intensified its anti-LGBTQ+ campaign to resonate with Fidesz’s core supporters, predominantly in rural areas.

Orban suggested that organisers “should not even bother” with Pride in Budapest this year.

Throughout Fidesz’s 15-year dominance, Orban has appealed to conservative Hungarians who perceive a need to defend the country’s Christian identity from diverse threats, such as Muslim immigrants and what they describe as “gender and LGBT ideology” supposedly imposed by Brussels. His government’s anti-LGBTQ+ campaign intensified in 2021 when a Fidesz-driven parliament enacted a law prohibiting materials perceived as supporting homosexuality and gender change in schools, again citing child protection concerns.