Budapest Pride organizers: This is not child protection, this is fascism

We publish the letter from the Budapest Pride organisers without changes:

Pride is not just a protest. Pride is a movement. The Hungarian government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority. Therefore, as a movement, we will fight for the freedom of all Hungarians to protest!

Hungarians are a freedom-loving nation. We know that if the government tries to ban protests with critical voices, they will face resistance from the whole of society. That is why we need a scapegoat, a distraction, another wave of hatred. A little bedbug-ing. They lie to their voters about a child protection measure, but there is no child protection in this bill.

Just 2 days after the anniversary of the Hungarian revolution and war of independence of 1848 , many people were outraged by the hypocrisy of the government’s attempt to strip us of our hard-won freedoms. The slogan of the 1848 revolution against the Austrian Empire was “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”, defying oppression and censorship. When pride organisers and participants stand up for their own freedoms, they are standing up for the rights of all Hungarians. It is a new level of fascism when only those who support those in power are allowed to march in the streets of a country. 

If the government tries to restrict the right of citizens to demonstrate peacefully by means of madeup rules, it will be that any demonstration can be banned for any fictitious reason. We will not allow future generations to grow up in such a country. We are at home, we will be here, and we will work to make Hungary a freer country.

The LGBTQ community has been a target of attacks from the ruling parties for years. If attempts are made to ban demonstrations for the rights of the LGBTQ community, there is no guarantee that peaceful demonstrations by groups that the governing parties call the enemy, “the bedbugs”, will not be banned, on the false grounds of child protection.

As members of the LGBTQ community, it is part of our lives from childhood that we have to defend ourselves, that we have to fight for acceptance and equal rights. Even though those in power try to dehumanize us, we LGBTQ people are all human beings who want freedom, safety and equal rights. The pride march is one of the most visible parts of this struggle, but equally as important is the resistance we wage every day to lead a free, authentic and happy life in our own country..

It would never occur to a democratic leader to restrict the fundamental rights of those who disagree with them. Elected representatives should not work for their own self-interest, but for all citizens.

We are asking Viktor Orbán’s government: how will they guarantee that all Hungarian citizens, including LGBTQ people, can live and protest freely? If they cannot guarantee this, it is an admission of their own incompetence.

As we wrote today, Hungarian Parliament bans Budapest Pride LGBTQ march as opposition protests with smoke bombs – details, pictures, videos