Budapest Pride Parade Draws Tens of Thousands After Government Change

Tens of thousands gathered in Budapest for the first Pride Parade since the departure of right-wing nationalist leader Viktor Orbán. The event, a celebration of LGBTQ+ rights, proceeded despite temperatures reaching 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Orbán's government had banned the parade last year, citing a 2021 anti-LGBTQ+ law that was further tightened in 2025. Organizers urged vulnerable individuals to follow the event online due to the heat. While attendance was lower than the previous year's massive turnout, it surpassed numbers from years prior to 2025, according to AFP.

In 2025, over 200,000 people participated in the parade, which proceeded despite the ban under then-Green Mayor Gergely Karácsony. Karácsony faced charges that were later dropped in early June. This development follows a European Court of Justice ruling in April that found Hungary's anti-LGBTQ+ laws violated EU fundamental freedoms.

A participant noted that the situation for the LGBTQ+ community is improving, largely due to the change in government. Hungary's new conservative, pro-European Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who replaced Orbán in May after 16 years, has spoken in favor of equality and freedom of assembly. However, he has not yet commented on the Pride Parade or taken steps to repeal the anti-LGBTQ+ laws enacted under Orbán. Magyar recently stated in early June that "everyone is free to love whom they want and live with whom they want, as long as they do not break the law," regarding marriage and adoption for same-sex couples.

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We have made it clear that in our opinion everyone is free to love whom they want and live with whom they want, as long as they do not break the law.