The prime minister had previously suggested that the organizers of the Pride event “should not bother” to prepare for it
Pride parades will no longer be allowed to take place on the streets of Budapest, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared in an interview with local radio on Friday. He argued that such events are detrimental to children.
Speaking to Radio Kossuth, Orban stated that the only reason the LGBTQ events took place in the capital was because they were being led by former American ambassador David Pressman, “which clearly expressed that the world’s great powers support this.”
“But now there has been a change in the world,” Orban noted. He added that since Pressman left the country in January ahead of the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, Pride parades are “no longer under international protection.”
“So, this kind of thing is no more. It’s over now,” Orban said, adding that such events “shouldn’t have been necessary before either.”
The prime minister further stressed that events such as the Pride parade go against the “opportunity for our children’s healthy, balanced development as desired by their parents,” pointing out that despite immense pressure from the Western world, most people in Hungary have not given in to the gender “craziness” and still believe that there are only two genders.
During a state address last Saturday, Orban also suggested that the Pride organizers in Hungary “should not bother preparing” for the event, initially scheduled for June, arguing that it would be “a waste of time and money.”
On Thursday, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, also stated during a press briefing that Hungary “does not have to tolerate Pride marching through downtown Budapest” and that the event will no longer be held “in the public form in which we have known it in recent decades.” He previously suggested that Pride should be held in a “closed venue.”
Organizers of the LGBTQ festival have responded to Orban’s threat to shut down the event by issuing a statement that they still plan to hold it, arguing that it would become a “litmus test for Hungarian democracy,” Reuters reported.
In 2021, Hungary updated its child protection laws to prohibit the promotion of LGBTQ topics in media, advertising, and educational materials accessible to minors. The measure sparked a backlash in Brussels, which launched legal action against Budapest, referred the case to the European Court of Justice, and also froze billions in EU funds intended for Hungary over what it claimed were violations of fundamental human rights.
