Right-wing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has been named the ‘king of Pride’ after the country saw its largest–ever parade in Budapest in response to his anti-LGBTQ+ ban on the event.
The right-wing Fidesz party, which has seen Viktor Orbán as the European country’s Prime Minister since 2010, passed an anti-LGBTQ+ law banning Pride marches in Hungary in March this year on the grounds that the depiction of homosexuality was a threat to minors.
The ban, which was met by protests from opposition politicians and members of the public alike, proposed fines of up to 200,000 forints (£420/$550) for organisers of Budapest Pride, and anyone attending, claiming the event could be considered harmful to children.
In further response to the Hungary Pride ban, tens of thousands took to the streets of Budapest to defy Orbán over the weekend (28 June), including the city’s Mayor, Gergely Karácsony.
The event ended up being the country’s largest-ever parade by some way, far outnumbering the expected turnout of 35,000 – 40,000 people.
“We believe there are 180,000 to 200,000 people attending,” the president of Pride, Viktória Radványi told AFP (via The Guardian). “It is hard to estimate because there have never been so many people at Budapest Pride.”
Orbán’s political opponent, Péter Magyar, who leads the TISZA party, did not miss the opportunity to point out the irony of Orbán’s ban leading to the country’s largest ever Pride.
“Viktor Orbán became the king of Pride in Europe yesterday, because no one else has ever managed to mobilise such a large crowd for a demonstration against himself by inciting hatred,” Magyar wrote in a social media post.