Hungary Police Ban Pride Parade Amid LGBTQ Crackdown

Hungarian police have banned a Pride march set for next month in a southern city, but organisers insisted they would not be “silenced” and would press ahead with holding the event.

It came after Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government, which is pursuing a crackdown on LGBTQ rights, banned Budapest Pride in June — only for record numbers to defy the move to attend the march.

Police said late Friday they had prohibited a Pride march due to take place on October 4 in the city of Pecs, which organisers describe as the only major annual Pride parade outside the capital.

They justified the move by citing amendments to laws and the constitution this year that make it illegal to hold an assembly promoting homosexuality.

Orban has cited “child protection” to justify his years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights in the European Union country.

The ban “is a severe blow to the LGBTQ community”, said organisers the Diverse Youth Network in a statement, vowing to press ahead with holding the event on the original date.

“We refuse to be silenced. We will not be intimidated. We will not allow our rights to be trampled.”

The ban on the Budapest Pride march was seen as a major pushback against LGBTQ rights in the EU, and sparked criticism from the bloc’s leaders.

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But in a rebuke to Orban’s escalating clampdown, more than 200,000 people took part in the June 28 event, according to organisers.

Police have said they will not take action against participants.

But the mayor of the capital was questioned last month as a suspect for having organised the parade. If charged and convicted, he faces up to a year in prison.