<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/19/mayor-plan-c-police-ban-budapest-pride>
"The mayor of Budapest has vowed to go ahead with the city’s Pride march next
weekend, declaring he will “come up with a plan C” even if the police try to
impose a government-backed ban.
Hungarian police said on Thursday they were banning the country’s main Pride
march from taking place in the capital, citing recent legislation passed by
Viktor Orbán’s government that prohibits the promotion of same-sex
relationships to under-18s.
“The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the
holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time,” the police
said.
But Gergely Karácsony, the liberal mayor, said the gathering would go ahead
regardless, saying the police decision had “no value” because the march did not
require official authorisation as it was a municipal event organised by the
city council.
“Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march on 28 June as a city
event. Period,” he wrote on Facebook.
The mayor, who was re-elected to the position last summer, is among the
harshest critics of the rightwing government’s politics. He has hung an LGBTQ+
flag and a Ukrainian flag on the administration building in central Budapest,
in defiance of Orbán’s Fidesz party’s rhetoric.
In an interview with the
Guardian this week, before the police statement,
Karácsony said he was determined the event would go ahead.
“There is currently no law that could ban [a municipal event],” he said.
“Obviously, anything can happen in Hungary. But we will come up with a plan
C.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
