Thousands of march in Hungary, where the 2LGBTQ Rally becomes an anti -government protest

Tens of thousands of demonstrators went through the capital of Hungary on Saturday as a march of 2LGBTQ rights+ banned to a mass demonstration against the government.

The crowds filled a square near the Budapest city hall before starting all over the city, some waving rainbow flags, while others carry signs mocking Prime Minister Victor Urban.

“This is much more, not just about homosexuality …. this is the last minute to defend our rights,” said one of the demonstrators.

“None of us is free until everyone becomes free,” I read one mark.

Small groups of anti -proteins tried to disable the width, but the police have kept them away and turned the march route to avoid clashes.

The national government in Urban has gradually cleared the rights of the 2SLGBTQ community in the past decade, and legislators have passed in March to allow pride marches to ban, noting the need to protect children.

Opponents see this step as part of a broader campaign of democratic freedoms before the national elections next year when Urban faces a strong opposition competitor.

The organizers said that the participants arrived from 30 countries, including 70 members of the European Parliament.

More than 30 embassies expressed its support for the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Lin, called on the Hungarian authorities to allow the procession to move forward.

Seventy groups of Hungarian civil societies, including the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the International Transparency of Hungary and the Hungarian Healski Committee, published an open speech on Friday to support the march, saying that the law that led to the police ban “works to intimidate the entire society.”

The mayor march

“The right to assembly is a basic human right, and I do not think it must be banned. Just because someone does not like the reason you go to the street, or do not agree on it, you still have the right to do so.”

The mayor of Budapest Gerlie Carxon tried to circumvent the law by organizing the march as a municipal event, which he said did not need a permit. However, the police banned the event, arguing that it fell under the children’s protection law.

Urban, which promotes her government to the Christian province’s agenda, provided some evidence on Friday about what the participants could expect when he warned of the “legal consequences” to organize the march and its presence.

Earlier this week, Justice Minister Bens Tuzson warned in a letter sent to some foreign embassies in Budapest that organizing a banned event punishable by one year imprisonment, while he was attending as a wing.

The law that allows the prohibition of pride allows the police to impose fines and the use of facial recognition cameras to identify people who are attending. When he was asked about the threat of one -year prison sentence, Carxon said at a press conference on Friday that such a sentence would increase his popularity.

“But I cannot take it seriously,” he said.

Zoltan Novak, an analyst at the Center for Just Political Analysis Research, said that the march was a major topic of political discourse that allowed Urban government to restore the initiative from the opposition and mobilize the voter base.

He said: “During the past 15 years, Vidsz decided the topics that have dominated the political world,” noting that this has become more difficult because the Urban party faced an increasing challenge from the Tessa party of opposition leader Peter Magear, who achieved 15 points on Vidban Vidban in a recent survey.

TISZA, who was avoiding taking a strong position on gay rights issues, did not specify in response to Reuters questions whether she believed that the march of pride was legal, but said that those present deserved to protect the state.

“Peter Magyar called on the Hungarian authorities and the police to protect the Hungarian people on Saturday, and in other days, even if that means standing against the abuse of power,” the party’s media office said. Magiar himself will not attend.