The mayor of Budapest decided to challenge Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his call for Pride, deciding to organize the LGBT+ rights parade directly from the Municipality and thus try to circumvent the prohibitions imposed by the government. The announcement of the first citizen Gargely Karacsonsly followed the police decision to reject a petition at the beginning of the month to organize the annual event in Budapest.
The police move is in line with the indications of Orban and with a recent law approved by Parliament who make the organization or participation in events that violate the controversial legislation on the so -called ‘gay propaganda’, or the legislation on the protection of childhood, which prohibits the “representation or promotion” of homosexuality to children under the age of 18.
“Love cannot be banned”
Pride organizers had declared that the 30th march of the Budapest Pride would take place on June 28 despite the new legislation, but now they found a new, powerful ally. “Freedom and love cannot be banned,” said the mayor in a Facebook post.
Karacsonly explained that, since the march will be a municipal event, a celebration of freedom, “no permits are needed by the authorities”. “In this city there are no first or second class citizens. In this city we know that we can only be free together,” he added, claiming that “therefore in this city it cannot be prohibited freedom or love, and not even the Budapest Pride can be prohibited”.
The clash with the EU
The legal dispute around the parade has become a test bench for fundamental values, such as freedom of expression, in the Member State of the European Union. The EU has already suspended billions of euros intended for Hungary, citing corruption and erosion of the rule of law under the government of Orban. Last month twenty of the 27 block member states asked Budapest to withdraw legislation. These governments also urged the European Commission to act against Orban’s executive.
According to critics of the magic leader, the LGBT+ community is also aimed at moving the attention of voters from the crisis of the cost of living in Hungary, which has catapulted the opposition party Tisza by Peter Magyar at the top of the polls less than a year from the next elections. And it would also do part of a wider repression plan to silence dissent, also cutting the funds to the independent groups of civil society and the media, arousing comparisons with the Russian repression.
