In response to the prohibition of the Budapest Pride March by Orban regime, The Left group will lead a delegation of 10 Left MEPs to participate proudly in Budapest Pride, in solidarity with the LGBTI+ community, which continues to be targeted in Hungary.
The 30th edition of Budapest Pride will still take place on June 28, our presence at this Pride will send a strong message: wherever fascists attack the rights of LGBTI+ people, women, or minorities, we will stand in their way.
Our mobilisation alongside 70 MEPs from various political groups will push the European Commission to respond and take sanctions against Viktor Orban’s authoritarian regime, which tramples on human rights and undermines democracy. As homophobic laws in Hungary grow and have devastating consequences for queer people, the Commission remains silent or resorts to pinkwashing.
Left co-President Manon Aubry (La France Insoumise, France): “Our presence at Pride sends a strong message: wherever fascists like Orban attack the rights of LGBTI+ people, women, or minorities, they will find us standing in their way. We hope that the presence of MEPs at this march will force the Commission to react and end its complacency towards a regime that tramples on human rights. We will march with pride to defend the right to live as the gender you identify with and to love who you want!”
Left MEP Özlem Demirel (Die Linke, Germany): “Orban is suppressing the rights of LGBTIQ+, banning Pride and expanding repression. You don’t have to be queer to resist this, it’s about all of us. Queer resistance today is anti-fascist resistance.”
Left MEP Irene Montero (Podemos, Spain): ”The criminalisation of the LGTBIQA+ community is a form of violence that must not be tolerated, particularly in Europe, where even a European government like the Orban regime is actively targeting LGTBIQA+ individuals.”
