Hungarian laws banned the march, claiming it affected the ‘proper development’ of minors.

On Wednesday, the Budapest Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Mayor Gergely Karacsony for organizing the Pride March in June 2025, despite a ban by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

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Karacsony was fined for ignoring the police order and organizing the event, which drew between 200,000 and 400,000 people. The Budapest Mayor declared that he went from “proud suspect” to “proud accused.”

The Orban administration, in power since 2002, has pushed through legislation restricting the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, including bans on public events such as June’s 30th Pride March.

In March and April of 2025, Orban’s Fidesz Party promoted constitutional amendments to ban the Pride March, claiming it affected the “proper development” of minors. However, Karacsony included the March within a municipal event that, according to him, did not require permission.

Despite threats of fines of up to 500 euros, an immense number of people joined, making it the largest Pride March in Hungary and the country’s biggest human rights demonstration since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

The Budapest Prosecutor’s Office accused Karacsony of organizing an illegal assembly and repeatedly “leading and calling” for public participation. However, the Office’s Chief recommended a fine without trial for the Mayor.

Meanwhile, Karacsony reaffirmed that defending freedom will never be a crime, and that he will resist every threat and punishment, considering it his duty to confront a government that betrays those who seek to “live, love, and be happy.”

The government criticized the Pride March, claiming it violated children’s rights to “moral and spiritual development,” which are constitutionally prioritized over fundamental freedoms such as the right to peaceful assembly, according to an amendment passed in 2024. The Fidesz Party also passed a law in 2021 prohibiting content depicting homosexuality for minors under 18.

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE – Chicago Tribune

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