By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Protesters clashed with police in Hungary’s capital, Budapest, and several were detained late Tuesday after Hungary’s rightwing government coalition introduced a law that will ban a yearly Pride march in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Under the legislation, which was adopted by the ruling Fidesz-KDNP parties with the backing of two smaller conservative and far-right parties, those attending the rally could face fines of 200,000 forints ($550).
The law enables authorities to use a facial recognition system to identify those attending Pride, which was planned for the 30th time in June.
The vote on an amendment to the so-called “child protection law” passed in an extraordinary procedure with 136 votes in favor and 27 against, prompting protests.
The new law states that “any assembly in Hungary can only be held if it respects children’s rights for proper physical, intellectual and moral development.”Therefore, “it is forbidden to hold an assembly that violates the ban regulated by the law on the protection of children.”
Lawmakers of the liberal opposition party Momentum disrupted the vote from the back benches by lighting smoke flares, playing a recording of the former Soviet Union’s national anthem, and throwing down flyers in the chamber from the first floor.
MEDICAL EMERGENCY
In reaction to Momentum’s action, the group leader of ruling Fidesz, Máté Kocsis, said “the little bolsheviks of today financed from abroad” attempted to prevent the vote “by lighting poisonous flares in an indoor space.”
He noted that their lawmaker Gábor Bán,yai “who had hardly survived Covid,” needed “emergency medical care after Momentum’s action in the chamber. ‘What will come next, you dumbheads, will you even set fire to the Parliament?’” Kocsis said on social media.
Yet by that time, several thousand demonstrators gathered in areas near parliament and eventually marched to the Margit Bridge, one of several key bridges connecting crossing the Danube River in Hungary’s capital.
A Worthy News reporter witnessed a heavy police presence with numerous police vehicles switching on their trademark blue sirens.
As some demonstrators tried to break through the police barricade, three men were “arrested and taken away on suspicion of a crime,” announced the Budapest Police Headquarters (BRFK).
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had earlier told Pride organizers to “not even bother” organizing the event, which he said threatens the protection of children.” The law already prevents LGBTQ+ information for minors or education about that issue in schools.
EXPRESSING ANGER
While many expressed anger over Orbán’s statements, at least one man observing the protest said he supported the government measures. “We are a Christian nation. These people undermine our Christian values,” added the man who asked not to be named for fear it could impact his work as an entrepreneur.
Yet among those blocking the bridge in winter temperatures was Levente Tösér, 34, who warned that authorities “want to implement face recognition systems on the Pride” to use “gay people as guinea pigs.”
“They are going to try out these face recognition systems on us. And then, once they perfected it, this perfect Chinese thing they got from the Chinese government…that’s when they are going actually to implement this on the rest of the Hungarians. But the Hungarians don’t understand it, that it’s just the beginning. That’s my problem,” he told Worthy News.
A 21-year-old activist, identifying himself as Alex Huggard, told Worthy News he is not part of the LGBTQ+ community. However, he carried an edited picture showing Orbán in a Russian uniform with the caption “Kremlin Employee.”
“For me, it’s important because I think that in a democracy, everybody has the right to express themselves. And if they are allowing Nazis to parade around Budapest, then they should allow gay people to walk in the city as well,” he said.
Like others at the protest, he compared the “anti-LGBTQ+ law” with similar legislation in Russia. “I think they try to raise hatred and try to get people to jump against each other,” added Zsuzsanna, 41, who declined to give her last name.
The European Union has also criticized Hungary’s LGBTQ+ agenda and already withheld billions of euros in funding, but Orbán said he fights for traditional families and Christian values. After scuffles, police eventually reopened the Budapest bridge, in a divided nation.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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