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Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Budapest mayor says city will organise Budapest Pride, circumventing Orban's legislation
BUDAPEST - The city of Budapest will organise Hungary's Pride march by the LGBTQ community on June 28 as a municipal event celebrating freedom, Budapest's liberal mayor said on Monday, in a move to circumvent a law that allows police to ban LGBTQ marches. Hungary's parliament, in which Prime Minister Viktor Orban's right-wing Fidesz Party has a big majority, passed legislation in March that creates a legal basis to ban LGBTQ marches, citing protection of children. It also lets police use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend. Pride organisers have said the 30th Pride march in Budapest would proceed despite the new legislation, and on Monday Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony said in a video that the city would team up with organisers. The mayor added since the march will be a municipal event - a celebration of freedom - "no permits from authorities are needed." Karacsony said Budapest's history was about freedom and solidarity. "In this city, there are no first- or second-class citizens. In this city we know that we can only be free together," he said. "So in this city, neither freedom, nor love can be banned, and the Budapest Pride cannot be banned either." Government spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Orban, who faces a challenging election in 2026, pushed through constitutional changes in April stipulating that Hungary recognises only two sexes, male and female. His government has a Christian conservative agenda and its intensifying campaign against the LGBTQ community has aimed to please Fidesz's core voters, mostly in the countryside. Orban has said organisers "should not even bother" organising Pride in Budapest this year. Over the past 15 years of Fidesz's dominance, Orban has appealed to conservative Hungarians who believe their country is in a struggle to protect its Christian identity - from Muslim immigrants to what they call "gender and LGBT ideology" allegedly foisted on the central European country by Brussels. His government's anti-LGBT campaign escalated in 2021 when the Fidesz-dominated parliament passed a law banning the use of materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender change at schools, citing again the need to protect children. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Orban Moves to Ban Hungary's Pride Parade Before Elections
(Bloomberg) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he'll move to ban the country's annual Pride parade, raising fears of a wider crackdown on civil liberties ahead of key elections. Cuts to Section 8 Housing Assistance Loom Amid HUD Uncertainty The Trump Administration Takes Aim at Transportation Research Shelters Await Billions in Federal Money for Homelessness Providers NYC's Congestion Pricing Pulls In $48.6 Million in First Month NYC Office Buildings See Resurgence as Investors Pile Into Bonds 'This is over,' Orban said in an interview with state radio on Friday, in reference to the LGBTQ festival on the streets of Budapest. Event organizers, in a statement, said they still planned to go ahead with the 30th Pride parade, which they said would now be a litmus test for Hungarian democracy. Orban's move comes before crucial elections in a little over a year's time, with his ruling Fidesz party trailing behind an upstart opposition movement in the polls. The nationalist leader, who said he's been emboldened by the return of US President Donald Trump, has also pledged to 'sweep out' organizations receiving foreign funding, such as independent media and civil liberties groups. After Trump's return, 'there's no longer international protection' for the Pride parade, Orban said. In recent years ambassadors from Hungary's allies regularly took part in the event to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community. Among them was former US Ambassador David Pressman, who also hosted a Pride 'picnic' along with his husband. The premier has for years targeted sexual minorities, including by forcing booksellers to wrap books containing LGBTQ themes. He's effectively barred adoption for same-sex couples, restricted minors' access to literature on LGBTQ topics and banned non-governmental organizations from holding sex education in schools. 'The LGBTQ community has been the government's target for years,' Pride organizers said on their website. The ability to hold the event this year, which is scheduled for June 28, 'will signal whether authorities are trying to silence those that think differently.' Trump's SALT Tax Promise Hinges on an Obscure Loophole Warner Bros. Movie Heads Are Burning Cash, and Their Boss Is Losing Patience Walmart Wants to Be Something for Everyone in a Divided America China Learned to Embrace What the US Forgot: The Virtues of Creative Destruction OXO Fought Back Against the Black Spatula Panic. People Defected Anyway ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Bloomberg
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Orban Moves to Ban Hungary's Pride Parade Before Elections
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he'll move to ban the country's annual Pride parade, raising fears of a wider crackdown on civil liberties ahead of key elections. 'This is over,' Orban said in an interview with state radio on Friday, in reference to the LGBTQ festival on the streets of Budapest. Event organizers, in a statement, said they still planned to go ahead with the 30th Pride parade, which they said would now be a litmus test for Hungarian democracy.
