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MPs in Hungary have voted to ban Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them, in what Amnesty International has described as a “full-frontal attack” on the LGBTQ+ community.
The legislation – the latest by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party to target the community – was pushed through parliament on Tuesday. Believed to be the first of its kind in the EU’s recent history, the nationwide ban passed by 136 votes to 27 after it was submitted to parliament one day earlier.
It amends the country’s law on assembly to make it an offence to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation, which bars any “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors under the age of 18.
The legislation was slammed by Amnesty International, who described it as the latest in a series of discriminatory measures the Hungarian authorities has taken against the community.
“The spurious justification for the passing of this law – that events and assemblies would be ‘harmful to children’ – is based on harmful stereotypes and deeply entrenched discrimination, homophobia and transphobia,” it said in a statement.
“This law is a full-frontal attack on the LGBTI community and a blatant violation of Hungary’s obligations to prohibit discrimination and guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” it said, adding that the ban would turn the clock back 30 years in Hungary by undermining hard-won rights.
After lawmakers first submitted the bill on Monday, the organisers of Budapest Pride said the law was aimed at turning the community into a “scapegoat” in order to silence critics of Orbán’s government.
“This is not child protection, this is fascism,” organisers wrote. Budapest Pride will mark its 30th anniversary this year, bringing together thousands of people to make visible the community’s struggle for freedom, safety and equal rights even as those in power continually seek to dehumanise them, it noted.
“The government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority,” it added. “Therefore, as a movement, we will fight for the freedom of all Hungarians to demonstrate.”
Organisers said they planned to go ahead with the march in Budapest, despite the law’s stipulation that those who attend a prohibited event could face fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints (€500).
As the vote was held, opposition MPs ignited smoke bombs, filling the parliamentary chamber with thick plumes of colourful smoke.
After the law’s adoption, a spokesperson for Budapest Pride, Jojó Majercsik, told the Associated Press that the organisation had received an outpouring of support.
“Many, many people have been mobilised,” Majercsik said. “It’s a new thing, compared with the attacks of the last years, that we’ve received many messages and comments from people saying, ‘Until now I haven’t gone to Pride, I didn’t care about it, but this year I’ll be there and I’ll bring my family.’”
Since returning to lead the country in 2010, Orbán has faced criticism for weakening democratic institutions, including accusations of gradually undermining the rule of law.
His government, in turn, has sought to portray itself as a champion of traditional family values, unleashing a crackdown that has drawn parallels with Russia as it adopts measures such as blocking same-sex couples from adopting children and barring any mention of LGBTQ+ issues in school education programmes.
Tamás Dombos, a project coordinator at Hungarian LGBTQ+ rights group Háttér Society, described Orbán’s assault on minorities as a tactic aimed at distracting voters.
“It’s a very common strategy of authoritarian governments not to talk about the real issues that people are affected by: the inflation, the economy, the terrible condition of education and healthcare,” said Dombos.
Orbán, he continued, “has been here with us for 15 years lying into people’s faces, letting the country rot basically, and then coming up with these hate campaigns.”
The restrictions on Pride come as Orbán is facing an unprecedented challenge from a former member of Fidesz’s elite, Péter Magyar, ahead of next year’s elections, leading some to suggest the ban was aimed at winning over far-right voters.
“It is easy to win votes by restricting the rights of a minority in a conservative society,” Szabolcs Hegyi of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) told AFP.
He warned, however, that the curtailing of civil liberties, seemingly for political gain, was a slippery slope. “Eventually, you can get to a situation where virtually no one can protest except those who are not critical of the government’s position.”
