Hungary’s parliament has passed a law that will ban the annual Pride marches for the LGBT+ community in the country.
In protest, opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, set off plumes of colourful smoke bombs and dropped leaflets of Orban and Vladimir Putin kissing.
Orban proposed an amendment to the Assembly Act on the grounds that Pride marches are harmful to children.
This bill passed today and has been received with widespread condemnation, with opponents hitting out that this is a slippery slope towards the dissolution of democracy.
It would also impose fines on organisers and participants of £422 as well as use facial recognition software to identify attendees.
Orban hinted in February that his government would take steps to ban Budapest Pride.
Budapest Pride said in a statement: ‘This is not child protection, this is fascism.
‘The 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 demonstrate.’
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Dávid Vig, Director of Amnesty International Hungary, reacted to the news and said: ‘This law is a full-frontal attack on the LGBTI community and a blatant violation of Hungary’s obligations to prohibit discrimination and guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
‘On the eve of the 30th anniversary of Budapest Pride in June, this harmful ban turns the clock back three decades, further undermining the hard-won rights of LGBTI people in Hungary.
‘It is unfortunately just the latest in a line of discriminatory measures taken by the authorities that targets and stigmatises LGBTI individuals and groups.
‘The Hungarian president must not sign this bill into law and authorities must instead ensure that LGBTI people are able to freely express their identities as well as organise and participate in public events.’
European human rights groups have previously condemned the Orban government for its repressive stance against minorities.
The European Union’s executive commission filed a case with the EU’s highest court in 2022 against Hungary’s 2021 child protection law.
The law bans the ‘depiction or promotion’ of homosexuality in content available to minors, including in television, films, advertisements and literature.
It also prohibits the mention of LGBT+ issues in school education programmes, and forbids the public depiction of ‘gender deviating from sex at birth’.
The European Commission argued that the law ‘discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity’.
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