Hungarian lawmakers set off smoke bombs amid ban on Pride parades
Left-wing Hungarian lawmakers set off smoke bombs in Parliament on Tuesday as a bill banning Pride parades was passed.
The law, supported by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party and the Christian Democrats, prohibits events that expose children under 18 to homosexuality. This means that the annual Pride parade is now illegal. Attending such an event carries a fine of 200,000 Hungarian forints ($548). As the legislation passed in a 136-27 vote, Left-wing members of Parliament set off smoke bombs in the chamber.
Left vows to violate law
Reuters reported that critics are claiming the new law violates freedom of assembly, but demonstrators were able to flood the streets and even blocked a bridge in central Budapest to protest it. Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony said this year’s parade “could be bigger than ever” and organizers defiantly vowed to move ahead with the parade on June 28th as planned.
"Budapest is the city of freedom, there will be Pride," Karacsony said.
Máté Hegedűs, press officer for the Pride parade, denied that the law is in the interest of children. "This is not child protection, it is fascism," he said. "Pride is a movement that cannot be banned."
The law allows authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who attend the Pride parade or similar events.
European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib slammed the new law. "Freedom, dignity, and human rights – these are not up for debate,” she told Euronews. "Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are core European values, and they must be upheld for everyone, everywhere,” she added. “We stand with the LGBTIQ community in Hungary and beyond. Equality is non-negotiable.”
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, however, remained steadfast in his support for the law.
“Today, we voted to ban gatherings that violate child protection laws,” he wrote on X. “In Hungary, a child’s right to healthy physical, mental, intellectual, and moral development comes first. We won’t let woke ideology endanger our kids.”
