Pride parade banned in Hungary

The parliament in Budapest approved the corresponding bill proposed by the government camp led by right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban in a fast-track procedure with 137 votes in favor and 27 against. The parliament has 199 members.

Opponents of the new regulation set off smoke bombs in the plenary chamber during the vote. Orban had already hinted at the ban in February during an address to the nation: "The organizers of Pride should not bother preparing this year's parade. It would be a waste of time and money."

Search for Pride participants with facial recognition

Violations of the ban are considered an administrative offense and are punishable by fines. In general, fines of up to 200,000 forints (around 480 francs) are possible for administrative offenses in Hungary. This can affect both the organizers and the participants of Pride parades, who are to be identified with the help of facial recognition software.

Child protection is the justification

Formally, the new regulation is an amendment to the Assembly Act, which stipulates that assemblies may not violate the Child Protection Act. The Pride parade is not explicitly mentioned, but it is included, as also emerged from the debates in parliament.

Since 2021, a regulation known as the Child Protection Act has prohibited children and young people in Hungary from accessing information about non-heterosexual lifestyles. Accordingly, books, films and other media must not be accessible to minors.

Orban's government is also planning to amend the constitution to define a person exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people are not to be recognized as such. Since December 2020, Hungary's constitution has also stated that a mother can only be a woman and a father can only be a man.