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Record turnout anticipated for Budapest Pride march
Tens of thousands of people gathered at the Budapest Pride march despite a law passed earlier this year banning Pride events. Photo by Zoltan Balogh Hungary Out/EPA
June 28 (UPI) -- Saturday's Budapest Pride march is expected to have drawn record attendance and participation in opposition to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's anti-LGBTQ policies.
The parade is being held in the Hungarian capital amid threats of legal consequences by Orban and the Hungarian government, including a ban on gatherings that promote homosexuality, the BBC reported.
Hungary's child protection law restricts such gatherings, but Pride march organizers are being joined by Hungarians and politicians from other European nations to support those who identify as LGBTQ.
"This weekend, all eyes are on Budapest," European equality commissioner Hadja Lahbib told media in Budapest on Friday.
"This is bigger than one Pride celebration, one Pride march," Lahbib said. "It is about the right to be who you are, to love who you want, whether it is in Budapest, in Brussels or anywhere else."
March organizers expected between 35,000 to 40,000 people to participate in the march, but the BBC reported said organizers estimated as many as 200,000 people showed up.
Orban and Hungary's Fidesz party earlier this year enacted the nation's child protection law and have said it applies to the Pride march and similar events.
The law also bans the display of LGBTQ promotional materials, which might include the rainbow flag.
Orban has said there won't be a violent police crackdown on the event, but organizers and participants might be subject to legal prosecution afterward. Facial recognition technology could identify participants, each of whom could be fined up to $500.
"The police could break up such events because they have the authority to do so," Orban told state-run radio on Friday.
"Hungary is a civilized society [and] a civic society," Orban continued. "There will be legal consequences, but it cannot reach the level of physical abuse."
Event participants waved Pride flags and signs mocking Orban, including at least one depicting the prime minister in drag.
