At least 70 members of the European Parliament plan to join this year’s Pride celebrations in Budapest, Hungary, in a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community following the government’s ban on the gatherings, CNN reports.

In April, Prime Minister Victor Orbán’s authoritarian Fidesz party passed a constitutional amendment outlawing Pride events in the European Union member nation and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those attending the banned events.

Related

Hungary passes constitutional amendment banning Pride as protesters hold “Gray Pride” protest
Supporters of the law said that it would protect children from knowing that LGBTQ+ people exist.

Parliament passed the repressive legislation known as the Assembly Act, 140 to 21.

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Budapest Pride organizers have vowed to hold the event in defiance of the new law and called on “international allies, activists, and friends” to join the Pride parade through Hungary’s capital on June 28.

Van Sparrentak, a Dutch MEP from the European Parliament’s “Greens/European Free Alliance” political group, said she’ll be attending Budapest Pride to “support the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary, to let them know that they are not alone (and) to be visible as a community.”

“Pride is a protest, and if Orbán can ban Budapest Pride without consequences, every pride is one election away from being banned,” she said.

Marc Angel, a Luxembourg MP and current vice-president of the European Parliament, said he’ll join the march to “show solidarity” with LGBTQ+ Hungarians and “all of civil society,” which he described as “under attack” in the eastern European country. 

Angel added he’ll be “defending the right to assemble as a fundamental European right,” and hopes to “show Hungarians who believe in democracy and in Europe that they are not alone.”

The vows of solidarity coincide with the release of a signed letter from a group of 20 European member nations condemning the anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation. The signatories called on the European Commission to “expeditiously make full use of the rule of law toolbox at its disposal” if the law isn’t overturned.

Those mechanisms could include stopping EU funding to Hungary and enacting an “infringement procedure” against the country for failing to implement EU law, according to Angel.

The lawmakers also condemned the use of facial recognition software to identify people attending Pride. Nations including Germany and France said they’re “concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy.”

“Respecting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including LGBTIQ+ persons, is inherent in being part of the European family. This is our responsibility and shared commitment of the member states and the European institutions,” the letter read.

Like Russia, its ally in a politically motivated campaign against the “degenerate West,” Hungary has instituted “gay propaganda” laws prohibiting the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors.

Orbán and Fidesz “have been dismantling democracy and the rule of law” for the past 15 years, “and in the past two or three months, we see that this process has been sped up,” said Dávid Bedő, a lawmaker with the opposition Momentum party, after passage of the Assembly Act.

The new law inspired protesters in April to stage a “Gray Pride” peace march, organized by Hungary’s satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party. Participants wearing drab gray marched behind a banner reading “Illiberal Pride.”

Signs mocking Orbán and Fidesz read “being uniform is cool” and “listen to your heart, death to colors.”

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