Dozens of European politicians are planning to attend Budapest Pride in defiance Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ law banning Pride marches.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the eastern European nation submitted a bill to parliament to ban LGBTQ+ focused events. The bill was subsequently signed into law by anti-LGBTQ+ prime minister Viktor Orbán and proposes fines of up to 200,000 forints (£420/$550) for organisers of Budapest Pride and anyone attending.

The bill also allows the use facial recognition to target and fine attendees of any LGBTQ+ events in the country.

In the past, more than 30,000 LGBTQ+ people and allies have marched in Budapest Pride and dozens of protests have taken place following its ban.

As per CNN, officials from at least six groups of the European Parliament are planning to attend the Pride march on Saturday (31 May) regardless of the anti-LGBTQ+ law.

Marc Angel, co-president of the European Union’s Intergroup, told the outlet he will be attending as a means of “defending the right to assemble as a fundamental European right” and “show Hungarians who believe in democracy and in Europe that they are not alone”.

Dutch MEP Van Sparrentak said she will be heading to Budapest for the event to “support the LGBTIQ+ community in Hungary” and “let them know that they are not alone”

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

The decision by European politicians to attend the event comes as twenty EU countries called on the Hungarian government to reverse its decision in an open letter.

In the joint statement, the 20 EU governments – including Czechia and Estonia – said they were “deeply concerned by recent legislative and constitutional amendments infringing on the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ persons which were adopted by the Hungarian parliament”.

It continued: “We are highly alarmed by these developments which run contrary to the fundamental values of human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights,” and called on Hungary to revise the measures and “ensure the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens are respected and protected, thus complying with its international obligations”. 

On Saturday (31 May), on the same day as Budapest Pride a demonstration against the anti-queer law has been organised by The Peter Tatchell Foundation to take place outside the Hungarian embassy in London.

Ahead of the protest action, actor Stephen Fry, who distanced himself from LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall in December and has in the past refused to explicitly condemn JK Rowling’s views, released a video in which he condemned the law.

“It’s a country that has produced wonderful and extraordinary people [who] have contributed to the sum of human happiness, some of the greatest scientists and mathematicians that the world has ever seen, but also people who believe in equality and justice,” Fry said.

“Unfortunately, they’re in the grip of a modern version of fascism. Our queer brothers, sisters and others are suffering as a result of it. 

When the bill was passed, LGBTQ+ Hungarians responded by staging a tongue-in-cheek ‘grey Pride’ event in Budapest.

At the rally – which was organised by parody political party the Two-tailed Dog Party – demonstrators waved flags monochrome in colour and held ironic signs with satirical slogans such as “sameness is trendy”.

“Look at all these people here now, dressed in grey – a perfect display of what sameness looks like,” demonstrator Kata Bicskei, 53, told AFP.

“That’s the twist, of course. We don’t want everyone to be the same.”

In the most recent ILGA Europe Rainbow Map and Index, which has been published annually since 2009 and ranks all 49 European countries on legal and policy practices for LGBTQ+ people, Hungary came in 37th position.

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