BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday passed a law banning Pride events and allowing authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attendees, continuing a crackdown by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s right-wing populist party on the country’s LGBTQ community.
The measure passed in a 136-27 vote. The law, supported by Orbán’s Fidesz party and their minority coalition partner the Christian Democrats, was pushed through parliament in an accelerated procedure after being submitted only a day earlier.
It amends Hungary’s law on assembly to make it an offense to hold or attend events that violate Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation, which prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors under 18.
Attending a prohibited event will carry fines up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546), which the state must forward to “child protection,” according to the text of the law. Authorities may use facial recognition tools to identify individuals attending a prohibited event.
As the vote was held in Hungary’s parliament in Budapest, opposition lawmakers ignited smoke bombs in the chamber, filling it with thick plumes of colorful smoke.
In a statement on Monday after lawmakers first submitted the bill, Budapest Pride organizers said the aim of the law was to “scapegoat” the LGBTQ community in order to silence voices critical of Orbán’s government.
“This is not child protection, this is fascism,” organizers wrote. “The government is trying to restrict peaceful protests with a critical voice by targeting a minority. Therefore, as a movement, we will fight for the freedom of all Hungarians to demonstrate!”
The new legislation is the latest step against LGBTQ people taken by Orbán, whose government has passed other laws that rights groups and other European politicians have decried as repressive against sexual minorities.
In 2022, the European Union’s executive commission filed a case with the EU’s highest court against Hungary’s 2021 child protection law. The European Commission argued that the law “discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.”
Hungary’s government portrays itself as a champion of traditional family values and a defender of Christian civilization from what it calls “gender madness,” and argues that its policies are designed to protect children from “sexual propaganda.”
Hungary’s “child protection” law — aside from banning the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality in content available to minors, including in television, films, advertisements and literature — also prohibits the mention of LGBTQ issues in school education programs, and forbids the public depiction of “gender deviating from sex at birth.”
In a speech in February, Orbán hinted that his government would take steps to ban the Budapest Pride event, which attracts thousands and celebrates the history of the LGBTQ movement while asserting the equal rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.
Another Pride event in the southern Hungarian city of Pécs has also been held in recent years. Budapest Pride is marking its 30th anniversary this year, and is scheduled to take place on June 28.
