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"Hate is not a family value" sign at Budapest Pride parade/protest (June 28, 2025).
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony has been sent a proposal for indictment over the city's Pride march in June.
The mayor of Hungary's capitol is facing charges after helping to organize a Pride march in protest of the government's ban on public LGBTQ+ events.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony, a member of the green political party Párbeszéd – A Zöldek Pártja (Dialogue – The Greens' Party), revealed Thursday that he has been sent a proposal for indictment over the June event. Karácsony asked in a video posted to his Facebook, "What is freedom for the people of Budapest? Is it a mayor’s imprisonment?"
"I am proud that I took every political risk for my city's freedom, and I will proudly face the court to defend my own freedom and my city's freedom," Karácsony said.
Hungarian Parliament passed a constitutional amendment in April, in a vote of 140-21 along party lines, that makes it an offense to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s so-called "child protection" law. Enacted in 2021, the law prohibits the "depiction or promotion" of homosexuality to minors. The law also allows the government to use facial recognition technology to identify those who attend prohibited events, with those found in violations facing fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546).
Fidesz, the nation’s ruling conservative party, introduced a separate constitutional amendment at the same time declaring that there are only “two sexes,” against the scientific and medical consensus that sex is a spectrum. The amendment mirrors an executive order from Donald Trump, a close ally of Hungary's authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
With Karácsony's support, the 30th annual Budapest Pride Parade still took place on June 28, drawing a record number of international attendees that included more than 70 Members of the European Parliament. The march was backed by over 30 foreign embassies, including Britain, France, and Germany, but notably not the United States.
Neither Karácsony nor the Chief Prosecution Office of Budapest have revealed the specific charges being considered against him.
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