Amnesty International activists are organizing a mini-Pride event this Wednesday, June 25, in response to the prohibition of the 30th edition of Budapest Pride, according to a statement from the organization. The march will begin at the European Parliament and proceed to the Permanent Representation of Hungary to the European Union. The event will gather members of LGBTQIA+ rights organizations, as well as political and European representatives, in a show of solidarity against Hungary’s restrictive new legislation.
Running parallel to this demonstration, Amnesty International has launched an international campaign called “Let Pride March.” This initiative follows the adoption on March 18, 2025, of a Hungarian law that bans Pride marches. The law empowers authorities to cancel Pride events, impose fines of up to 200,000 forints (about €500) on participants, and sentence organizers to up to one year in prison. It also authorizes the use of facial recognition technology to identify and target protestors, raising serious concerns about privacy and freedom of expression.
This legislation is a continuation of Hungary’s 2021 law, titled “Tougher action against paedophile offenders and amending certain laws to protect children.” Widely known as the “Propaganda Law,” it restricts minors’ access to content or advertisements that promote views contrary to the government’s stance on personal identity based on sex at birth, sex change, or homosexuality. The law has been criticized for conflating LGBTQIA+ identities with pedophilia and for undermining fundamental rights.
On June 5, 2025, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a landmark opinion confirming that Hungary’s 2021 law violates EU law at multiple levels—including freedom of expression, non-discrimination, and respect for private and family life—and constitutes a self-standing breach of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, which defines the EU’s core values of democracy, equality, and human rights.
The “Let Pride March” campaign and the Brussels mini-Pride highlight the growing international condemnation of Hungary’s policies and reinforce calls for the European Union to uphold the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. The campaign urges Hungarian authorities to allow the Budapest Pride march to proceed safely and without restriction, and calls for the repeal of laws that criminalize LGBTQIA+ visibility.
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