When the first mass protest for LGBTQ+ rights, known as Stonewall, took place exactly 56 years ago, many of its participants believed that the 21st century would be different. They did not expect perfection. Just a world in which their existence would not be considered a problem. But instead of progress, we are witnessing a backward movement in many countries today.

Today is proof of this. In Hungary, an EU member state, the PRIDE march in Budapest is taking place, but under an official ban issued by the police. Slovak MEPs are also planning to attend.

Just like Stonewall, today the security forces have enormous power to decide what a public protest, in the form of PRIDE, can look like. The Hungarian police acted on the basis of a law passed by the Hungarian parliament in March 2025, under the pretext of “child protection.”

Most Hungarians don't mind homosexuals

In reality, however, it is a decision that has little to do with social reality. According to a November 2024 survey by the Háttér Society, 54% of Hungarians do not think it is problematic if two men fall in love, and almost half also support same-sex marriage. The PRIDE ban says more about Viktor Orbán’s political strategy in the area of “traditional values” than about the real mood in society.

If anyone doubts the strength of these principles, they might recall the former Fidesz MEP, whom the police found during the lockdown at a Brussels party, exclusively in men's company, outside the official European Parliament program.

Among other things, today's PRIDE in Budapest is expected to welcome hundreds of foreign observers and delegations from the EU who will come to support Hungarian PRIDE participants.