According to the 2003 Act on Equal Treatment any entity or person that treats a person or group unfavorably on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity violates their right to be free from discrimination.

The banning order of the Budapest Police Department disregards its obligations to refrain from such treatment and severely discriminates against participants of the Budapest Pride march. In the next few weeks we will be taking further legal action in order to ensure that the Police is held accountable and no such discriminatory measures affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people can take place in the future.

We welcome the Court’s decision as it reaffirmed last year’s ruling that the Police was wrongfully interpreting its role as it is not mandated to compare the participants’ right to assembly and others’ right to freedom of movement or public interest invested in transportation.

We are grateful for the help of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ) as they prevented the Police from interpreting the law in an arbitrary and discriminatory fashion. The statement of HCLU is available here.

We look forward to the Budapest Pride march on 7 July and welcome everyone!

Source: Budapest Pride