2025 Hungarian Pride ban

On 18 March 2025, the Hungarian Parliament voted in favor of a bill which bans holding or attending assemblies that violate the law on the protection of children, which forbids promoting or displaying homosexuality to persons under the age of 18, therefore banning Budapest Pride. Participants may receive a fine ranging from 6,500 forints (€16) to 200,000 forints (€500), while organizers can face up to one year in prison. The bill also authorizes police to use facial recognition systems to identify participants.

Protests broke out in multiple Hungarian cities and in Vienna in opposition, with hundreds or thousands of protestors attending.

Background

In March 2025, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced in his annual State of the Nation address in February that the constitution will state that a person is either a man or a woman, and said "I advise the organizers of Pride not to bother preparing for this year's parade. It would be a waste of money and time."

The far right party Our Homeland Movement called for a ban on LGBTQ pride marches on multiple occasions before.

Amendments to the law

On 11 March, MPs from Hungary's governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition proposed the fifteenth amendment to the constitution, which states "Every child has the right to protection and care for their adequate physical, mental and moral development. This right takes precedence over all other fundamental rights, with the exception of the right to life." According to the Minister of the Prime Minister's Office, Gergely Gulyás, this is justified by common sense, as "people with families do not usually go near Pride."

On 17 March, an amendment to the law on assembly was submitted, which makes it an infraction punishable by fines ranging from 6,500 forints (€16) to 200,000 forints (€500) to hold or attend an assembly that violates the prohibition set out in the law on the protection of children, which forbids promoting or displaying homosexuality to persons under the age of 18. The amendment also states that the money collected from fines must be used for child protection purposes, and allows the police to use facial recognition systems in order to identify the participants. Organizers face punishments of up to one-year imprisonment. The amendment enjoyed special procedure, so that the proposal was debated on, and the final vote was held on the next day.

On 18 March, the Parliament voted in favor of the amendment by 136 votes in favor (Fidesz-KDNP, Jobbik, and Our Homeland Movement MPs; Péter Balassa and Imre Ritter) and 27 votes against. During the vote, Momentum Movement MPs and Ákos Hadházy (independent) lit smoke bombs, played the Soviet national anthem, and threw pictures of Viktor Orbán and Vladimir Putin kissing. The opposition MPs chanted "We won't allow it!" Gábor Bányai, an MP who survived COVID-19, received emergency medical care. President Tamás Sulyok signed it into law on the same day. The MPs who disrupted the vote later received fines totaling up to 82 million forints (€200,000); Hadházy's fine of 12 million forints (€30,000) was paid off by donations within two days.

Reactions

Mayor of Budapest Gergely Karácsony said that Budapest Pride will be held and it "could be bigger than ever".

The organizers of Budapest Pride compared this amendment to fascism, and stated that they are still planning to hold the 2025 Pride march despite the ban.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a non-governmental human rights organization, stated that the amendment violates several fundamental rights, especially the right to freedom of assembly, the prohibition of discrimination, and the right to the protection of personal data. Co-chair of the committee, András Kádár, said that there is no sociological data or scientific evidence to suggest that the mention of being gay or the public discussion of the sexual minorities' position in society has a negative impact on children.

Michael O'Flaherty, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe wrote "I call on the President of Hungary to veto the law," and he asked László Kövér, speaker of the National Assembly, to amend the bill.

Péter Magyar, leader of the largest opposition party Tisza Party, said that the government did this to divert attention from millions of Hungarians living in severe living crisis, and that if they get elected, they will protect the right of assembly. Many have criticized Magyar for not speaking up more firmly.

Momentum Movement pledged to create a fund with which the fines could be payed off.

Tamás Dombos, a project coordinator at Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBTQ rights group, said that this was a tactic to distract voters from more important issues, and that facial recognition could be used against other protests the government chooses to deem unlawful.

Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called on the Hungarian authorities to repeal this and all other laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez as well as Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and German EU Affairs Minister Anna Lührmann, on their respective X accounts, have all opposed the bill.

Twenty-two embassies have issued a joint statement on the legislation, stating that they are deeply concerned.

Protests and demonstrations

Momentum Movement organized a protest to Kossuth Square, in front of the Parliament, on 18 March at 17:00 (CET). After speeches were made by leaders of Momentum Lajos Lőcsei and Dávid Bedő, and independent MP Ákos Hadházy, the crowd moved to the Margaret Bridge to block it. They got to Jászai Mari Square, but could not get on the bridge due to the police blockade. The crowd grew larger by another protest starting from Liberty Square. Three men were arrested. The crowd dispersed at around 22:30, when the police started to identify people who stayed there.

On 19 March, a protest was held in Pécs by Amnesty International. More than 200 people attended, including Momentum.

Vienna Pride organized a protest in the Austrian capital on 20 March to express their solidarity toward the Hungarian Pride community. Hundreds of people attended and speeches were made by politicians from multiple Austrian parties. They also invited Hungarians to the 2025 Vienna Pride. Similar protests were held in front of the Hungarian consulate in Barcelona on 22 March with around a hundred people attending, and in Paris on 23 March with 50–100 people attending.

Hadházy announced another protest to the Elisabeth Bridge taking place on 25 March at 17:00. The police rejected their request for permission to hold this protest at that place due to it disrupting traffic, instead they allowed it on the Március 15. tér (March 15th Square). The Curia later found that the reasoning was not enough to reject the request. Hadházy then announced that the protest will be held on the Ferenciek tere. At the protest, thousands of protestors gathered. Multiple speeches were made, then the protestors blocked the Elisabeth Bridge, Liberty Bridge, Petőfi Bridge, and Margaret Bridge. At 23:30, the police started to identify 289 of those who remained, two of them resisted.

On 29 March, a protest was held in Szeged. After speeches have been made, the 100–150 protestors blocked the Belvárosi Bridge.

Another protest was announced by Hadházy to take place on 1 April at 17:00 (CEST) to the Elisabeth Bridge. After speeches have been made, the crowd made up of thousands went to block the Liberty Bridge, the Petőfi Bridge, and the Margaret Bridge. The policed used physical coercion to move protestors from the road to the sidewalk. At 20:30, the police started to push the crowd on the Liberty Bridge towards Pest, but at 21:00, the police blockade suddenly left from the bridge. At 22:45, the police started to identify those who remained on the Liberty Bridge.

Hadházy announced a 24-hour protest to take place on 8 April to the Elisabeth Bridge. Parallel to this protest, another one was held in Miskolc, with hundreds of people attending. The Budapest protest was intended to be held from 17:00 on 8 April to 22:00 on 9 April, but the police did not allow this citing disturbance of traffic, instead allowing it from 16:00 on 8 April to 04:00 on 9 April. This decision was appealed to the Curia, which upheld the actions of the police. At around 16:00, roughly a hundred university students gathered at the Mikszáth Square; after speeches were made, they joined Hadházy's protest. Thousands of people attended, and multiple speeches were made, including by Róbert Puzsér. At around 20:40, police did not allow protestors onto the Liberty Bridge, but they did after a few mintues. Some attempted to go to the Petőfi Bridge, but the police blockade did not allow that.

The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, a satire party, announced a demonstration taking place on 12 April named "Let everyone be the same," where participants are encouraged to come in gray shirts and carry gray flags.

Another 24-hour protest was announced by Hadházy to take place on 15 April.