Budapest's Mayor Faces Police Scrutiny Over Controversial Pride March

The mayor asserts his commitment to freedom and love despite facing potential legal consequences for his actions related to the Pride march.

 

Budapest's mayor, Gergely Karacsony, was recently questioned by police as a suspect for his involvement in organizing a banned LGBTQ pride march held on June 28. This event proceeded despite stern warnings from Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose administration enacted a law earlier this year prohibiting such gatherings.

In what turned into a significant display of solidarity, the rally attracted a record attendance of 200,000 people, quickly evolving into an anti-government protest. Donning a rainbow T-shirt adorned with the capital's coat of arms, Karacsony arrived at Hungary's National Bureau of Investigation on Friday, where he proclaimed to his supporters that, "Neither freedom nor love can be banned in Budapest."

Should he be charged and found guilty, the mayor may face up to one year in prison for promoting the unauthorized march. Addressing a crowd of around 200 supporters and members of the press, Karacsony dismissed the allegations as lacking merit and announced plans to file a complaint against them: "If it cannot be banned, it cannot be punished," he reiterated emphatically.

Though accompanied by his lawyer, Karacsony refrained from responding to the investigators' inquiries, opting instead to submit a prepared statement. The annual pride march's fate was cast into uncertainty after the government passed a law in March that limits public gatherings that infringe on child protection laws against the promotion of homosexuality, reflecting the latest in a series of measures taken by Orban's administration to target Hungary's LGBTQ+ community.

Notably, Hungary's government abolished the legal recognition of transgender individuals in 2020 and enacted a law in 2021 prohibiting the depiction of homosexual relationships to minors. Yet, in an act of defiance, Mayor Karacsony pledged that the Budapest city hall would orchestrate the Pride march regardless of the legal ban, asserting police lacked the authority to ban a local event.

In a positive turn, local police recently announced they would refrain from penalizing attendees who could have been subjected to fines of up to €500 for participating in the Pride rally. However, the National Bureau of Investigation, which handles serious and complex crimes, has initiated a probe against an "unknown perpetrator" suspected of orchestrating the rally, adding further tension to the ongoing conflict surrounding LGBTQ rights in Hungary.