Police in Hungary have banned the Budapest Pride march, due to be held in the Hungarian capital later this month.
However, the city’s mayor, Gergely Karacsony, has said it will go ahead on 28 June as planned.
The city’s pride march had been in doubt since February when the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, had announced it would not take place. According to the BBC, a law was subsequently passed which restricted gatherings if they broke child protection laws on public promotion of homosexuality.
Orban was quoted as saying: “Pride has nothing to do with freedom of expression or freedom of assembly… Pride is a festival, the festival of a certain sexual community, which is not suitable to be seen by children.”
Another law was passed this year which also restricted the right to freedom of assembly if it fell foul of a child protection law.
To get around Orban’s ban, Karacsony and the city’s council have organised what they call “Freedom Day” on 28 June, with events carrying on throughout the day. It would culminate in a march through the city, but this was not a Pride march, according to the mayor.
Karacsony has said Orban and the police have no right to stop the city from holding these “Freedom Day” events, as they do not fall under the laws surrounding freedom of assembly.
[Image: Christian Lue on Unsplash]