This year, Budapest, Hungary saw the largest turnout for Pride in its history, all in the face of a 2025 ban on Pride celebrations by the country’s conservative prime minister Viktor Orbán.
Budapest Pride saw over 200,000 participants this year marking 30 years of pride celebrations in the European city. Each participant attended in spite of potential police intervention, heavy fines, and a year in prison, according to AP.
Earlier this year, Hungary’s lawmaking bodies passed a draconian law making holding a public Pride event a criminal offense, according to Outright International. The bill got pushed through quickly thanks to initiatives by nationalist-populist Orbán who has been imposing crackdowns on civil rights throughout Hungary.
In the weeks leading to Budapest Pride – which took place on June 28 — officials from all over Europe announced their plans to march in the parade, hoping to remind the country that Pride is a protest. Around 70 EU officials join the protest against the new law.
The march stepped off from Budapest City Hall and made its way through the city center, crossing Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube River. AP reports, police diverted the crowd from its planned route to keep it separated from a small group of far-right counterprotestors.
One Pride participant Blanka Molnár emphasized the importance of showing up to support her community. “This isn’t just about LGBTQ+ rights, it’s also about the right to assemble and about standing up for each other and not allowing (the government) to oppress us,” she said.
Orbán’s reputation took a blow with the success of the march. The leader has served as prime minister of Hungary twice, once from 1998 to 2002 and now since 2010. But now a new party is threatening Orbán’s rule. Péter Magyar of the Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party has been campaigning on promises to lead Hungary out of Orbán’s era.
