Hundreds march at sixth Pécs Pride: “Freedom cannot be banned”

The sixth Pécs Pride was held on Saturday, 12 September, under the slogan “Freedom cannot be banned” (A szabadság nem tiltható be). Several hundred people walked the five-kilometre route from the Uránváros district to Kossuth Square in the city centre, where the march ended with speeches from a stage, Hungarian media and the Serbian news agency Tanjug reported.

The march was the closing day of the week-long “Freedom of my Identity” human rights festival, organised by the Pécs-based youth organisation Diverse Youth Network. Participants, the organisers said, marched for human rights, freedom of assembly, the right to one’s own identity, freedom to love and acceptance.

“A year ago this seemed unbelievable”

Géza Buzás-Hábel, the festival’s founder and main organiser, recalled that last year’s Pécs Pride took place under the threat of the law with which Viktor Orbán’s government banned Pride marches. “A year ago it seemed unbelievable that today we could stand up for our difference in a Hungary that is still not free, but is freer,” he said.

Marc Angel, a Member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg, called Pécs “the capital of equality in Europe” and Buzás-Hábel “a European hero”. Trans activist Dea Nagy spoke about the difficulties of accessing hormone therapy in Hungary, while György Ujvári-Pintér of the organisation Magic Mirror said that Pride “is not only about who we are, but also about the kind of world we want to live in”. The organisers announced that Szeged will hold its first Pride march in spring 2027.

Heightened security, a minor incident

Police secured the march with heightened measures following the attack on Berlin Pride in late July. According to Hungarian media reports, members of the extremist group HVIM scattered a foul-smelling substance along the planned route, so the organisers moved the assembly point about a hundred metres. Police detained three people found carrying dangerous objects, and the march itself passed without incident.

Hungary rolls back Orbán-era laws

Pécs Pride took place as Péter Magyar’s government is moving to repeal the previous administration’s anti-LGBT rules, including the 2021 law banning the “promotion” of homosexuality to minors. On the same day, the prime minister also announced that the rules that in practice prevent same-sex couples from adopting children will be scrapped. Budapest Pride, which the Orbán government had tried to ban, drew tens of thousands of people in June.

Source: index.hu, nepszava.hu, Tanjug. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.