Hungarian police have banned a Pride parade planned for October 4 in the southern city of Pecs, citing new laws that outlaw public gatherings seen as promoting homosexuality.
The decision comes months after Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government blocked Budapest Pride in June, a move widely criticised in the European Union. Despite the ban, organisers said a record crowd of over 200,000 people still marched in the capital that day.
Police said the Pecs event could not go ahead under the amended constitution and laws passed earlier this year. The laws, which Orban has defended as “child protection,” are part of a wider clampdown on LGBTQ rights in the country.
Organisers of the Pecs march, the Diverse Youth Network, condemned the ban. In a statement, they said, “We refuse to be silenced. We will not be intimidated. We will not allow our rights to be trampled.”
They insisted the event will still hold on the original date.
The ban comes as the LGBTQ community in Hungary is facing growing restrictions under Orban’s leadership. In July, the mayor of Budapest was questioned by police as a suspect for organising the capital’s Pride parade. If charged and convicted, he could face up to one year in prison.
