LGBTQ+ activists and others took to the streets of Budapest on Saturday for a ‘Pride Parade’ despite the conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán enacting a de facto ban on such demonstrations earlier this year.
Thousands gathered in the Hungarian capital on Saturday after Budapest Pride announced that they would continue to hold their annual parade, in defiance of legislation aimed at preventing public demonstrations that threaten the mental development of children, including exposing children to sexual or LGBTQ+ content.
According to Magyar Nemzet, the planned route for the parade passed by at least ten playgrounds, which families and young children often frequent.
People take part in the Budapest Pride parade on June 28, 2025, as the capital’s municipality organised this march by the LGBTQ community, celebrating freedom, in a move to circumvent a law that allows police to ban LGBTQ marches. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP) (Photo by ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite the police issuing a ban on the event this year, the organisers decided to proceed with the demonstration nonetheless. They were also supported by liberal Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, who promoted the parade on social media with the message “freedom and love cannot be banned.”
Organisers of the event face criminal fines, potential jail time, and will be held responsible for any damages that come during the prohibited gathering.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose party spearheaded the legislation banning such demonstrations, stated that while the police have the authority to forcibly disperse the parade, the government would likely opt to pursue legal consequences instead.
The issue has sparked widespread controversy throughout Europe, with fellow EU member states demanding Brussels impose additional sanctions on Hungary for supposedly failing to uphold the “human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including LGBTIQ+ persons,” which they claimed is “inherent in being part of the European family.”
This week, EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen also weighed in on the matter, calling on the Orbán government to allow the Pride Parade to occur “without fear of any criminal or administrative sanctions against the organisers or participants.”
“To the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary and beyond: I will always be your ally,” she added.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY – JUNE 28: A banner shows Viktor Orban at the beginning of the Budapest Pride on June 28, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
In response, Prime Minister Orbán wrote: “I urge the European Commission to refrain from interfering in the law enforcement affairs of Member States, where it has no role to play.
“I also call on the Commission to focus its efforts on the pressing challenges facing the European Union—areas where it does have a clear role and responsibility, and where it has made serious mistakes in recent years, such as the energy crisis and the erosion of European competitiveness.”
According to a recent poll from the Nézőpont Institute, the majority of the Hungarian people back the Orbán government on the issue, with 51 per cent favouring restrictions on Pride Parades, compared to 43 per cent against.
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