Hungary | Budapest Pride: 200,000 people defy Viktor Orbán

"Thank you to the facial recognition cameras for taking such fantastic pictures of us," Kristóf Steiner, one of the Budapest Pride moderators, announces sarcasm. The crowd before him, as the news portal telex reports, apparently exceeded his expectations: "I can't believe it, oh my God. This is the biggest Budapest Pride ever."

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party have tried so hard to prevent this influx – and even the entire parade. The Hungarian parliament had previously passed a constitutional amendment banning depictions of homosexuality and thus events of the LGBTQ community . The reason given was child and youth protection. A Reuters report shows what this can trigger in those affected: "Somehow, I subconsciously started to think about whether I should dare to hold Vivi's hand in front of a child now," says Lau, a Hungarian, about her partner. "That doesn't mean I won't hold her hand now, but something started to work inside me."

Government wants to ban depictions of homosexuality

Violations of the law would also be punished with a fine of around 500 euros, and the police are authorized to use their facial recognition software to identify rulebreakers . "If anyone thought something could happen at a Pride that could harm a child, we've proven the opposite," Steiner said at Pride. Organizers expected around 50,000 people to take to the streets for queer rights. Ultimately, there was talk of up to 200,000 demonstrators.

Carmen Traute from Amnesty International traveled from Germany to march alongside the Amnesty International truck and show solidarity with Budapest Pride. "We couldn't move for the first two hours – it was so crowded," she told the "nd" newspaper. This year, Budapest Pride also celebrated its 30th anniversary. According to Traute, it was an important opportunity "to advocate for equality, visibility, and acceptance in the face of increasing discrimination."

Pride was on the brink for a long time

At times, it may have been unclear to some whether this anniversary would even take place—after all, the legislature had banned it. However, Budapest's liberal mayor, Gergely Karácsony, jumped to the defense of the event and declared it a municipal gathering. Police approval was therefore unnecessary. The police, however, interpreted the announcement as a registration of an event and reissued the ban. In the back and forth, Karácsony again contradicted the announcement: As a municipal event, the event did not fall under the jurisdiction of the police, and their ban was ineffective.

Dániel Fehér is firmly convinced that whether Pride was illegal is now completely irrelevant. He is a co-founder of the Free Hungarian Embassy in Berlin and traveled with a group specifically for the parade. At the end of the march, near the stage, he takes time for a phone call and reports to "nd" about a professional police presence. Counter-demonstrators that attempted to block Pride were quickly dispersed. The right-wing populist government certainly had no interest in real riots. The police themselves concluded that it was "no easy task" to ensure the banned march ran smoothly.

Orbán's hate speech brings people onto the streets

According to Fehér, no parking tickets were distributed. "It's possible that a few more will be sent out later so the police can save face," admits the Berliner of Hungarian origin. Overall, however, he considers this unlikely. The number of lawbreakers is too large and the effort to identify them too high. The constant repetition of the ban was purely a deterrent, Fehér believes. Orbán wanted to play the strong man – and failed.

That same morning, Orbán delivered a speech at the National University of Public Administration, a police academy, and, according to telex, spoke of "dangerous times." The head of state mentioned terrorism and "ideological chaos" in the same breath – in direct reference to the Budapest Pride. Such words likely seemed like a riot to fight back. Dániel Fehér believes that the government itself provoked the many times larger number of Pride attendees.

Budapest Pride sign against the shift to the right in Europe

"Without loud protest and resistance from civil society – be it Hungarian civil society or beyond – against discriminatory legislation, there is a risk that other governments in Europe will follow Hungary's example," says Carmen Traute. Many others may have had the same thought: Among the prominent participants was activist Greta Thunberg, for example, who spoke of "Orbán's failed attempt to prevent Pride." More than 70 EU parliamentarians were also there to stand up for European values . The illustrative phrase "Imagine Pride is banned and practically the whole of Europe comes anyway" was heard in a Deutschlandfunk report.

When Mayor Karácsony takes the stage at the closing rally, there is thunderous applause. He is wearing a T-shirt that his Instagram followers will recognize. In one video , he has ironed on the word "Budapest" with the corresponding coat of arms in rainbow colors. Daniel Fehér was standing in the crowd at the time. The mayor said that it had been burned into his memory that the right-wing populist Fidesz party wanted to lead Hungary out of Europe – but on this day, it felt as if Budapest were the capital of Europe. "After all the years of following political events, today was the first day that I thought: It's over," Fehér said.