“I came out and proud”- 3rd Pride Parade in Pécs

Photo: Facebook/Diverse Youth Network

1,000 police officers, 600 participants, 50 streets closed in the city – the 3rd Pride Parade under the motto “Open, Free, Happy” organised by Diverse Youth Network took place on Saturday in Pécs. The event was the culmination of the Freedom of My Identity Human Rights festival. It is the only LGBTQ+ parade that happens outside of Budapest in Hungary.

Decorated with pro-LGBTQ+slogans, cars led the march in the rhythm of popular pop songs followed by enthusiastic crowds of people. The parade started at 2 PM from Tettye Square and came to a climax on Square 48. Due to bad weather conditions, only 500 people took part in the event, despite the fact that organisers expected thousands. However, the march was still called a success. “Shade never made anybody less gay”, “Break free” and “Love is equal” were just some of the phrases inscribed onto banners during the parade.

A round of support speeches was started by the Dutch ambassador to Hungary Désirée Bonis who stressed that “the sad truth is that across Hungary, including in Pécs, LGBTQ+ people and the values they stand for remain under attack. We are witnessing a pushback on equal rights of LGBTQ+ persons and gender equality. This is why during the past few years, the European Commission has dropped several Hungarian anti-LGBTQ+ policies before the European Court of Justice”.

Student rights activist Lili Pankotai underlined the problem of the current system from which stem “all these deprivations of rights”. Founder of “Szabad szívekért mozgalom” (“Movement for Free Hearts”), which supports LGBTQ+ teenagers, Mónika Molnár read a letter of complaint about hate against queer people in which the question that stands out is

“Why do people put so much energy into hating others that they have no energy left for their own happiness?”

The last speaker and a former student of Pécs University, Mithil Barath, expressed his gratitude to the city which “has given him the courage to come out and proud”.

U.S. ambassador to Hungary David Pressman was also present during the event. He visited Hungarian Catholics and Muslims to show his support for religious freedom and fundamental rights.

Just like other times, the counter-demonstration under the name “Hundreds of thousands against Pécs Pride” organised by Mi Hazánk took place at the same time. The Facebook event tried to encourage users to take part in it with the words: “Join us if you want to protect your children, your family and your traditional values”. Contrary to the event name, only around 10 people showed up to voice their dissatisfaction.

In summary, the third annual Pride celebration in Pécs showed support for LGBTQ+ rights which are constantly under attack in Hungary. The event highlighted the courage of the community and their allies.

Author: Martyna Rejczak

Source: Guest author: Martyna Rejczak

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6 Comments

Michael Steiner says:

27/09/2023 at 07:21

Two things I don’t get. I don’t understand what the “LGB” part, which is about one’s sexual orientation, has to do with the rest of that alphanumeric soup. The second thing is, I thought being gay, etc. was a trait one is born with. If so, why be “proud” of it?! It is not an individual achievement to have been born as something or other. Being proud of one’s accomplishments, attained through hard work and dedication I totally get; being proud of something one had zero control or input over though? Shrug. Also, guys (gays?), it’s 2023: Nobody cares who you like or sleep with. Most everyone has gotten over it so maybe you should, too… – unless, of course, the motivation is not acceptance and tolerance but something else, such as propaganda. Surely not!
Norbert says:

27/09/2023 at 09:05

The unfortunate thing is that 2 police officers per participant were deemed necessary. Assuming the participants were not the threat and road closures could be handled with much less manpower, this is kind of scary. On the subject of “traditional values”, I had always assumed this includes not to use violence against people, unless proportionally in self defence.
mariavontheresa says:

27/09/2023 at 20:34

There is always a reason to complain if police officers are trying to ensure peace. If police officers would not have been around and something happened, then people would complain about selective protection. It is hard to understand why the world has to be notified of one’s sexual preference. Is there a parade in Pecs for heterosexual people?
Larry says:

28/09/2023 at 15:24

In response to Michael Steiner the whole idea of pride parades has been acceptance, tolerance and liberation of non-heterosexual people to be openly comfortable with their sexual identity. Non-straight people have been stigmatized historically and that needs to end. Fidesz has politicized the issue in a malicious attempt to gain support by stigmatizing the LGBTQ community. They are different than you and we will make sure they don’t harm your children, etc. If you can imagine heterosexual teenagers who already have so much stress adjusting to the change in their bodies, the hormones and the emergence of their sexuality imagine that for LGBTQ teenagers in a society that stigmatizes them. It’s horrible and leads to higher rates of mental illness, substance abuse and suicide.
ostanus says:

28/09/2023 at 17:08

I was about to write something about why religious celebrations (people are proud to be Christian/Muslim/whatever without achieving anything) and sport fans (they just watch a game without achieving anything) celebrations on the streets are OK but LGBTQ partying is somehow not. I can only concur with Larry´s excellent comment that summarizes perfectly why public Pride parades and parties are needed. It is 2023 and still many people, even political leaders care a lot about who you sleep with and stigmatize these minorities for political gain.

At least there no “they promote child abuse ” comments like there were during Budapest Pride news. Maybe some sense has gone through but obviously a lot more parades are needed before heterosexual conservatives understand the importance of LGBTQ people being allowed to be and show who they are without discrimination and stigmatizing. If LGBTQ people were not so stigmatized in Hungary, there would be no need for such amount of police officers during parades.
Patrick Schüren says:

15/11/2023 at 11:24

very informative article about queer life in the EU member state Hungary, thank you for that.