Overview

• Around 100,000 people took to Budapest’s streets on June 28 in open defiance of the nationwide prohibition on LGBTQ+ gatherings.
• Police refrained from breaking up the parade despite warnings that attendees could face fines of up to €500 and organisers up to a year in prison.
• Marchers were shielded from permit requirements after Mayor Gergely Karácsony redesignated the event as a municipal gathering.
• Hungary’s 2025 child protection legislation and constitutional amendments authorise facial-recognition cameras to identify participants.
• More than 30 foreign embassies and senior EU figures, including Equality Commissioner Hadja Lahbib and over 70 MEPs, publicly backed the march.