LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) people and their allies marched to March 15th Square, on the Pest side of the Erzsébet Bridge.

Before the start of the march, oganised by the Rainbow Mission Foundation, spokesperson Kama Peksa said LGBTQ people had had enough of being treated as second-class citizens by those in power.

She noted that, according to leaks, the government plans to amend the constitution in September to prohibit LGBTQ people from adopting.

Peksa stressed that LGBTQ people would not give up their fight, rather their solidarity would grow as pressure from the established powers increases.

The poet and writer Orsolya Karafiáth, who is the MC for this year’s event, said it would be good if the country was at least as open as the crowd gathered in Kossuth Square, unafraid and standing up for dignity and diversity.

While the speakers addressed the crowd, marchers held a “kiss flash mob” to mark International Kissing Day.

On their way to March 15th Square, the marchers waved rainbow flags, sang songs and danced. After the march ended, Peksa said this year’s event was the most peaceful and unhindered one in recent years. She noted that the participants marched without cordons this year, and in spite of that there were no disruptions.

Peksa added that she knew of just one instance of a counter-demonstrator entering the crowd of marchers, but that person was escorted out by the organisers.

MTI’s correspondents at the event saw the flags and banners of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) and the Socialists (MSZP) as well as the Liberal Party among the marchers. The organisers also said the march was supported by Momentum, Párbeszéd and the satirical Two-tailed Dog party.

While the march was held, national radical activists organised a counterdemonstration in the city centre demanding a ban of Budapest Pride. At one point along the route of the Pride march, the counter-demonstrators were separated from the marchers by a cordon of about 30 metres. There police with dogs stood between the marchers and the counterdemonstrators.

A spokesman for the counterdemonstration, the lawyer Tamas Gaudi-Nagy, said protesting against a “midget minority” who want to get additional rights under the aegis of equal rights is “a fundamental right and a national duty”.

László Toroczkai, the head of the radical nationalist Mi Hazánk party, was present at the counter-demonstration.

Many of the counter-demonstrators wore T-shirts on which were written “normal” and “hetero”. Some also waved flags with the national colours as well as the red and white Árpád Stripes.

MTI Photo: Szigetváry Zsolt