Hungary's parliament passes law banning Pride events, in new assault on LGBTQ rights

It is easy to win votes by restricting the rights of a minority in a conservative society,

Szabolcs Hegyi, a legal expert at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) pointed out

We won't be scared by the government who is using our minority, the LGBTQ community as a scapegoat

he stressed

It’s a very common strategy of authoritarian governments not to talk about the real issues that people are affected by: the inflation, the economy, the terrible condition of education and healthcare,

said Dombos

Many, many people have been mobilised,

Majercsik said

The spurious justification for the passing of this law – that events and assemblies would be ‘harmful to children’ – is based on harmful stereotypes and deeply entrenched discrimination, homophobia and transphobia,

it said in a statement

The government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority,

it added

This law is a full-frontal attack on the LGBTI community and a blatant violation of Hungary’s obligations to prohibit discrimination and guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,

it said,

It’s nothing more than political theater — the ruling party is using the LGBTQ community for its own gain. But we refuse to be anyone’s scapegoat,

the organizers said in a statement

While more and more people are starving in Hungary, the Prime Minister’s priority is to ban human rights protests,

the statement added

(The ... The ban is) a trampling of freedom, dignity and human rights that should not be up for debate,

she told Euronews

On the eve of the 30th anniversary of Budapest Pride in June, this harmful ban turns the clock back three decades, further undermining the hard-won rights of LGBTI people in Hungary,

Dávid Vig, director of Amnesty International Hungary, said in a statement

Freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental European values that must be preserved and guaranteed for everyone, everywhere,

Lahbib added

This is not child protection, this is fascism,

Budapest Pride wrote in a statement Monday, ... saying that

When Péter Magyar goes to small towns and villages and talks about everyday problems like bad railways, having to wait three years for a hip operation, and so on — these are hard-hitting issues that matter,

said Pék

If peaceful assemblies of any social group can be banned on flimsy grounds, then the right of assembly of every single Hungarian citizen is at stake,

Budapest Pride spokesperson Johanna Majercsik told POLITICO

Máté Kocsismember of the National Assembly of Hungary

Protecting children is a priority in all circumstances. Anyone who has children knows what the problem is with the Pride parade and its aftermath on social media and other public forums. I have three children and I would not want them to see such content,

Máté Kocsis, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, said recently to the government-aligned weekly Mandiner

When the problems in a country multiply, the smear campaigns of those in power are intensified. But if we accept that the law in this country no longer protects citizens from power, then we will lose everything we care about,

Karácsony added

The appeal against Pride serves the purpose of setting a trap for Magyar,

says political analyst Kristóf Gáspár, from the Budapest-based Paradigm Institute

If our march is banned, we will take all possible legal measures to enforce our right to peaceful assembly,

Majercsik stressed

Perhaps the organizers are also aware that what they do year after year irritates a large part of society. Abnormality provokes normality,

he added