Zürcher Nachrichten - Biggest-ever Budapest Pride defies Orban ban in Hungary

EUR -
AED 4.301287
AFN 81.44339
ALL 97.256009
AMD 449.811505
ANG 2.095736
AOA 1073.85222
ARS 1477.940942
AUD 1.803279
AWG 2.107889
AZN 1.993701
BAM 1.953222
BBD 2.364779
BDT 143.240935
BGN 1.955488
BHD 0.441494
BIF 3444.056046
BMD 1.171049
BND 1.498023
BOB 8.093318
BRL 6.427422
BSD 1.171254
BTN 100.545289
BWP 15.626108
BYN 3.832941
BYR 22952.566647
BZD 2.352595
CAD 1.601662
CDF 3378.477078
CHF 0.934963
CLF 0.028729
CLP 1102.472637
CNY 8.402159
CNH 8.407151
COP 4724.598476
CRC 591.519247
CUC 1.171049
CUP 31.032807
CVE 110.435723
CZK 24.646142
DJF 208.119278
DKK 7.46113
DOP 70.321496
DZD 151.801189
EGP 58.17504
ERN 17.56574
ETB 158.999254
FJD 2.635799
FKP 0.857976
GBP 0.860645
GEL 3.173499
GGP 0.857976
GHS 12.176536
GIP 0.857976
GMD 83.725272
GNF 10136.602595
GTQ 9.003117
GYD 245.036573
HKD 9.191777
HNL 30.740172
HRK 7.535737
HTG 153.217766
HUF 400.135721
IDR 19124.172215
ILS 3.933586
IMP 0.857976
INR 100.584702
IQD 1534.074608
IRR 49330.45253
ISK 142.5409
JEP 0.857976
JMD 186.933265
JOD 0.830294
JPY 171.034095
KES 151.654056
KGS 102.407981
KHR 4708.789116
KMF 492.482493
KPW 1053.944246
KRW 1611.387514
KWD 0.357591
KYD 0.975995
KZT 608.416944
LAK 25236.113109
LBP 104926.0187
LKR 352.384883
LRD 234.797199
LSL 20.914548
LTL 3.457804
LVL 0.708356
LYD 6.311669
MAD 10.557598
MDL 19.758583
MGA 5187.748456
MKD 61.548104
MMK 2458.666288
MNT 4196.572684
MOP 9.4702
MRU 46.496549
MUR 52.697379
MVR 18.01863
MWK 2033.532616
MXN 21.858689
MYR 4.95881
MZN 74.899788
NAD 20.915244
NGN 1796.378115
NIO 43.035823
NOK 11.878205
NPR 160.872662
NZD 1.952839
OMR 0.450265
PAB 1.171254
PEN 4.175372
PGK 4.873615
PHP 66.298969
PKR 332.870935
PLN 4.251202
PYG 9333.68037
QAR 4.263323
RON 5.061741
RSD 117.120162
RUB 92.170582
RWF 1679.284723
SAR 4.391868
SBD 9.76295
SCR 16.524742
SDG 703.210794
SEK 11.172917
SGD 1.498533
SHP 0.920261
SLE 26.347631
SLL 24556.322981
SOS 669.262708
SRD 43.624514
STD 24238.356559
SVC 10.248473
SYP 15225.897194
SZL 20.914644
THB 38.199145
TJS 11.272921
TMT 4.110383
TND 3.393118
TOP 2.742719
TRY 46.841837
TTD 7.938522
TWD 34.092991
TZS 3091.795081
UAH 49.001822
UGX 4201.454453
USD 1.171049
UYU 47.007954
UZS 14866.470538
VES 130.317003
VND 30617.084439
VUV 138.685518
WST 3.03537
XAF 655.081163
XAG 0.031848
XAU 0.000351
XCD 3.164819
XDR 0.811651
XOF 652.274564
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.569864
ZAR 20.914666
ZMK 10540.846381
ZMW 28.372067
ZWL 377.077403
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Biggest-ever Budapest Pride defies Orban ban in Hungary
Biggest-ever Budapest Pride defies Orban ban in Hungary / Photo: Attila KISBENEDEK - AFP

Biggest-ever Budapest Pride defies Orban ban in Hungary

Record numbers of people marched in the Budapest Pride parade Saturday, defying a government ban that marked a major pushback against LGBTQ rights in the European Union.

Text size:

Organisers estimated up to 200,000 people had taken part in the 30th parade in the Hungarian capital, which was held in a festive atmosphere with rainbow flags flying high.

Those numbers far exceed the previous record turnout of 35,000 people and come in spite of a police ban imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's nationalist government.

The governing coalition amended its laws and the constitution this year to prohibit the annual celebration, justifying his years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights on "child protection" grounds.

But the opposition-run Budapest city hall decided to co-host the march so it could go ahead.

"I am proud to be gay... and I am very scared that the government wants to bring us down," one participant, 66-year-old Zoltan, told AFP.

I am very surprised that there are so many people, I want to cry," he added. He declined to give his full name.

- 'Big embarrassment' -

Orban said Friday that while police would not break up the Pride march, those who took part should be aware of "legal consequences".

Parade organisers risk up to a year in prison, and attendees can face fines up to 500 euros ($590).

The latest legal changes also empower the authorities to use facial-recognition technology to identify those taking part, and cameras have recently been installed on lamp posts along the parade route.

Szabolcs Pek, lead analyst at research centre Iranytu Institute, said it would be difficult for Orban's Fidesz party to respond to the high turnout.

"This is a big embarrassment for Fidesz," he told AFP.

The march began chaotically under a scorching sun. Marchers repeatedly had to pause to wait for police to stop traffic, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

"I definitely wanted to come, if only to show my solidarity, and to show how important this issue is -- not only to me, but to almost everyone living in Budapest," economics student Marcell Szanto, 22, told AFP.

Dozens of European lawmakers also attended in defiance of the ban.

- 'Love can't be banned' -

"Freedom and love can't be banned," read one huge poster put up near city hall, the gathering point for the march.

Earlier this week, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen called on the Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban.

Thirty-three nations, including most EU countries, have also released a statement in support of the march.

And at a news conference Saturday, several French MEPs called on the EU to take tougher measures against Orban's government over the crackdown on civil rights and other rule-of-law issues.

Since Orban's return to power in 2010, the country of 9.6 million people has been steadily rolling back LGBTQ rights.

It is the first EU nation to ban a Pride march, and Orban has said he has been emboldened by the anti-diversity push by US President Donald Trump.

Some people also gathered along the route to protest LGBTQ rights, in demonstrations called by far-right groups, one of which featured a wooden cross adorned with protest messages.

But opposition leader Peter Magyar said on Facebook that the government "scored not a goal, but a huge own goal with their attempt to ban today's event".

Budapest mayor Gergely Karacsony in a post noting the big turnout thanked Orban "for advertising for a more tolerant society".

"Disgusting... it's become a fad to show off ourselves," she said.

P.E.Steiner--NZN