Around 100,000 March In Budapest Pride In Open Defiance Of Hungary's Ban

The march began at Budapest City Hall and wound through the city center before crossing the capital's Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube River.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Around 100,000 people defied a government ban and police orders Saturday to march in what organizers called the largest LGBTQ+ Pride event in Hungary’s history in an open rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.

Marchers gambled with potential police intervention and heavy fines to participate in the 30th annual Budapest Pride, which was outlawed in March by Orbán’s right-wing populist governing party.

The march began at Budapest City Hall and wound through the city center before crossing the capital’s Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube River. Police diverted the crowd from its planned route to keep it separated from a small group of far-right counterprotesters, while members of Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community and masses of supporters danced to music and waved rainbow and anti-government flags.

One marcher, Blanka Molnár, said it was “a fantastic feeling” that more people had attended the Pride march than ever before despite it being outlawed. She said it was “increasingly important” for Hungarians, “even those who have never been to Pride before,” to push back against the government’s policies.

“This isn’t just about LGBQT+ 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.