Thousands of Hungarians join first Budapest Pride march since Orban's defeat

BUDAPEST, June 27 - More than 10,000 Hungarians on Saturday joined Budapest's first annual Pride march since right-wing leader Viktor Orban's election defeat in April, braving record heat in the city to walk with huge rainbow and European Union flags.

Last year's march, which Orban tried to ban as part of his wider policies targeting LGBTQ+ rights, turned into a mass anti-government demonstration that attracted tens of thousands of people.

This year, after Orban's defeat to Peter Magyar's centre-right Tisza party, the ban was lifted and the march cleared to go ahead.

Fanni Fajth, an 18-year-old student, said the mood was much more optimistic after the political change in the country, and due to hopes for new rights related to adoption, and marriage in the future.

"Everyone is just so much more uplifted," she said.

"I think it would be wonderful if we just had equal rights finally after all these years."

Orban, who cast himself as a defender of what he called Christian values from Western liberalism, passed laws ending the change of gender in personal documents, halting adoption by same-sex couples and banning materials in schools seen as promoting homosexuality or gender transition.

"The biggest change is actually the change in politics in the country," said Mate Tarnai, a 51-year-old chemist. "We feel more freedom personally as well, and also the atmosphere in the country is much more relaxed than last year."

Tarnai also said he hoped for equal rights from Magyar's government.

Magyar, a conservative, has asked for patience when asked by Hungarian media about changing legislation that curtailed the rights of the LGBT community.

Boglarka Boruzs, 23, an interpreter and translator, said for her the biggest change from Orban's rule was that LGBTQ+ people could feel safer and more accepted in everyday life, and politicians held the power to "make society understand that it's okay to be gay." REUTERS