Demonstration held in Budapest in solidarity with queer people, police does not intervene
The protest, which began at Erzsébet Square around 4 PM, saw participants marching along Andrássy Avenue to Heroes' Square. Demonstrators carried rainbow flags and LGBTQ+ symbols, with police securing the route and a video surveillance van accompanying the march, Telex reported. The event concluded by 6:30 PM without incident.
Demonstration held on the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
The demonstration was organised by four civil rights organisations, including the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International Hungary, in observance of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. According to Dávid Víg, director of Amnesty International Hungary, the march serves a similar purpose to the Budapest Pride and may set a precedent for future public gatherings amid growing legal restrictions.
Earlier this year, Hungary’s parliament—dominated by the ruling Fidesz party—voted to amend laws governing public assembly. Under the new rules, demonstrations that are perceived to “promote homosexuality or gender change” can be banned. Organisers and participants risk fines of up to HUF 200,000 (approx. EUR 500). The government justifies these measures by claiming to protect children, a rationale now enshrined in the Hungarian Fundamental Law.
Basic rights restricted
However, legal experts have criticised this approach. Máté Szabó, legal director at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), said the restriction of basic rights—such as freedom of assembly and expression—must meet strict constitutional criteria: necessity, proportionality, and suitability to achieve the intended goal. According to Szabó, banning Pride or other LGBTQ+-related events fails to meet these criteria and cannot be justified solely by invoking children's rights, especially when no direct harm can be demonstrated.
Saturday’s protest thus carried symbolic and legal significance. In a climate where LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under pressure, the march represented both a show of resistance and a test of the evolving legal boundaries of public assembly in Hungary.
Read more about the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary HERE. As for news on the tightening of the freedom of assembly in the country, click HERE.
Read also:
- Budapest protest led by MP Hadházy challenges controversial assembly law changes
- PHOTOS: Huge protest in Budapest, demonstrators tried to block Chain Bridge, police intervened
Featured image: illustration, Pride 2024.
lgbtq is a mental illness and not a right.
You’re entitled to an opinion but I’d be very curious where in the DSM or ICD you find that since it sounds like a diagnosis.
Simple. You are not born that way. You are groomed. Also you do have a choice. Ergo its mental.
Just because you weren’t ‘born that way’ it doesn’t mean that other people were not.
Same sex attraction is not an illness, it’s not a choice, it’s not the result of grooming, it’s the just way some people are.
Being open minded and accepting that other people are different is a choice however.
A man thinking he’s a woman is exactly the same as a man thinking he’s Abe Lincoln, or a 50-year-old thinking he’s five, or an Asian thinking she’s Latin, etc. They’re all living in a fantasy world. There’s nothing wrong with that: We all partake of makebelieve as kids–sometimes very intricate and involved makebelieve–, and perhaps more adults should give into daydreaming and fantasizing.
However, being unable to distinguish between fact and fiction IS mental illness. Whether they get help for their illness or not is their choice; where I draw the line are their vociferous endeavors to rope other people, especially children, into their fantasy world and to normalize their mental illness. That is no go.
At the end of the day, you want to bang a fire hydrant or identify as a door knob? Have at it. But you will not do it with any kids’ involvement. Period.
“A man thinking he’s a woman is exactly the same as a man thinking he’s Abe Lincoln”.
No, it is not the same thing. Such stupid examples.
Facts: Sexual orientation is NOT a fantasy. LGBTQ+ is NOT an mental illness. Weird that I even have say these facts, but some people (propagandists) are still spreading the age-old lies about LGBTQ+.
And nobody is trying to “rope children” into any fantasy. Only these conservative commentators seem to have fantasies about children and LGBTQ+, and that is sickening. You should seek some help to get those disgusting fantasies out of your heads.