The Hungarian government is clamping down on the country\u2019s annual Budapest Pride parade, which has been running for almost 30 years, saying that it should not \u201cdominate public spaces\u201d \u2013 citing what it claims are \u201cchild protection\u201d issues. <\/p>\n
Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff for Hungary\u2019s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, made the remarks at a government information session Thursday, according to a statement released by the Prime Minister\u2019s International Communications Office. <\/p>\n
While Gulyas did not spell out what the clampdown would involve, he also announced changes to the country\u2019s constitution, which will include amending the definition of gender to be \u201cbiologically male or female,\u201d and enshrining in law \u201cthat a child\u2019s right to physical, mental, and moral development takes precedence over all other considerations.\u201d <\/p>\n
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Gulyas said the Pride should be held in a \u201cclosed venue\u201d this year rather than processing along an avenue in central Budapest as in previous years. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is autocracy laid bare,\u201d Ghoshal said. \u201cClaims regarding child protection are pure lies, aimed at manipulating the public into accepting the relinquishing of human rights for all.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cQueer, trans, and intersex children exist \u2013 and experience extreme violence and discrimination,\u201d she continued. \u201cIf Orban is acting on behalf of Hungary\u2019s children, he can\u2019t pick and choose. The best way to ensure children\u2019s healthy development is to acknowledge science, listen to children, and strive to truly leave no one behind\u201d <\/p>\n
Orban\u2019s government has long cited child safety as a reason for undermining LGBTQ+ rights in the country. In 2020, Budapest effectively barred same-sex adoption, with Orban\u2019s office saying at the time that the move strengthened \u201cthe protection of Hungarian families and the safety of our children.\u201d <\/p>\n
A year later, the country banned the distribution of content related to gender change or homosexuality to under 18s. The European Commission said at the time that the law violated \u201ca number of EU rules,\u201d as well as \u201chuman dignity, freedom of expression and information.\u201d <\/p>\n
In 2022, the commission referred Hungary to the EU\u2019s Court of Justice for the ban, which it said \u201cdiscriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.\u201d <\/p>\n
At Orban\u2019s State of the Nation address on Saturday, he said that Hungary \u201cmust not yield – we must not give up on protecting our children.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI advise the Pride organizers that they should not bother preparing for this year\u2019s parade. It would be a waste of time and money,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
The same day, Budapest Pride said in a statement that it is already organizing its 30th pride march, which will be held in June. The march\u2019s organizers said that \u201cattacks\u201d on the LGBTQ+ community by those in power are \u201cnothing more than political theater \u2013 the ruling party is using the LGBTQ community for its own gain.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kar\u00e1csony will attend a pre-planned meeting with the organizers of Budapest Pride on Friday, the press office said. Though it was originally meant to discuss operations, the meeting has now \u201ctaken on a new meaning in the current situation, following the Hungarian Government\u2019s campaign against Pride,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n
The slogan of this year\u2019s march will be \u201cWe are home,\u201d the organizers said, adding that there have been \u201ccountless\u201d attempts to ban the march over the years, which have all failed. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, Pride is a demonstration, whether with twenty people or tens of thousands, but it will happen,\u201d the statement said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just fighting for the Budapest Pride March or the LGBTQ community \u2013 we\u2019re fighting for the right of all Hungarians to protest, speak their minds, and stand up for themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hungarian government is clamping down on the country\u2019s annual Budapest Pride parade, which has…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}