Budapest Pride Parade

Saturday afternoon saw the closing event of the 27th Budapest Pride series, the parade, which this year was announced under the slogan ‘Take back your future’, the state news agency MTI reports.

The LGBTQ community and their supporters marched along the Danube from Carl Lutz Quay to Margaret Bridge, then along the lower quays past the Parliament and arrived at downtown Szabadság (‘Liberty’) Square.

The marchers, whose number was estimated to be over 10,000, were waving rainbow-colored EU flags, sang and danced to the thundering music. The procession was accompanied by more than ten flatbed trucks, on which participants danced.

Several opposition parties took part in the march with their own vehicles. The event was disrupted by a few counter-protesters who stood in the middle of the Margaret Bridge and on Margaret Island and shouted abuse from a distance.

Earlier in the week, 42 embassies to Hungary and 12 Budapest-based, mainly cultural, institutions published a joint communiqué to express their full support for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community and their rights to equality and non-discrimination, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and freedom from violence.

"International human rights law is grounded on the broad premise that all individuals have the same rights and freedoms without discrimination. We reject and condemn all acts of violence, harassment, stigmatization and discrimination committed against individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics and support the fight against hate speech, violence, and discrimination targeting LGBTQI+ individuals and communities in all regions of the world," the signatories wrote.

"Celebrating diversity is an important way to promote respect for human rights for all. Budapest Pride has the longest history of such events in the region, and we highlight its role in promoting equality of treatment and social acceptance for all LGBTQI+ persons, and contributing to the creation of a more open, just, inclusive and equal society," they added.