Thousands of Hungarians join first Budapest Pride march since Orban’s defeat
Gergely Szakacs and Fedja Grulovic
BUDAPEST, June 27 (Reuters) – More than 10,000 Hungarians on Saturday took part in Budapest’s first annual Pride parade since right-wing leader Viktor Orban’s election defeat in April, braving record heat in the city and marching with giant rainbows and European Union flags.
Last year’s march, which Orban tried to ban as part of his broad policies targeting LGBTQ+ rights, turned into a mass anti-government demonstration attended by tens of thousands of people.
This year, after Orban’s defeat by Peter Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party, the ban was lifted and the march was allowed to continue.
Student Fanni Fajth, 18, said the mood was much more optimistic after the political change in the country and there were hopes for new rights regarding adoption and marriage in the future.
“Everyone is in much higher spirits,” he said.
“I think it would be great if we finally had equal rights after all these years.”
Orban, who sees himself as a defender of what he calls Christian values from Western liberalism, has introduced laws ending gender reassignment in personal documents, halting adoptions by same-sex couples, and banning materials in schools deemed to promote homosexuality or gender transition.
“The biggest change is actually the change in politics in the country,” said Mate Tarnai, a 51-year-old chemist. “Personally, we also feel more freedom, and also the atmosphere in the country is much more relaxed than last year.”
Tarnai also said he hopes to receive equal rights from the Magyar government.
Conservative Magyar asked for patience when asked by Hungarian media about changing legislation restricting the rights of the LGBT community.
Boglarka Boruzs, a 23-year-old translator and translator, said the biggest change for her from Orban’s rule is that LGBTQ+ people will be able to “feel safer and more accepted in everyday life, and politicians will have the power to “make society understand that it’s okay to be gay.”
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
