Protesters rally for the fourth week against Hungary’s law banning LGBTQ Pride events

Budapest, Hungary – Thousands of demonstrators gathered for the fourth week in the capital of Hungary on Tuesday, which led to a new law approved by the Popular Prime Minister Victor Urban National, who prohibits LGBTQ.

The legislation, which was rapidly followed through Parliament in March, is prohibited by the events depicting homosexuality of those under the age of 18, and have conducted comparisons with Russia’s gay policies. This comes because the Urban administration is increasingly accused of democratic slippage before the national elections next year.

The weekly protests continued in Budapest, and on Tuesday, the demonstrators filled the ErzeStest Bridge over the Danube, demanding the withdrawal of the law. Some have planned to stay on the bridge all night and said that there are plans to close all the five central Danube bridges.

No violence was reported immediately.

The law makes the crime of holding or attending events such as PRIDE, in which some legal experts and human rights groups say it is the latest Urban campaign against the LGBTQ community in Hungary and arbitrary restrictions on the right to gather.

Viktória VAJDA, one of the demonstrators, said the time to try to find a common ground with the Urban government “passed”.

“If we do not defend the rights of minorities and our basic rights, then who will bring us?” She said. “We have reached the point where we have to stand and say,” No more. “

The protests defied police orders to separate the bridges and the main street in Budapest. In a rare case of the street protesting outside the hierarchy, several hundreds of demonstrators protested in the eastern city of Meskolk on Tuesday against the law.

Urban, who says critics who say Hungary’s democracy and overseeing widespread corruption has been in recent years, and may aim in recent years to the country’s LGBTQ community in the country, the ban on gay adoption, and in 2021 “Child Protection”-prohibits any LGBTQ content including on TV, films, ads and literature that is available.

As part of the new law, the authorities may use facial recognition tools to determine those who attend the banned events – such as the famous Budapest Pride, which attracts tens of thousands every year – and can issue fines to up to 200,000 Hungarian Forents ($ 545).

The Urban Party is pressing a constitutional amendment next week that will record the ban on the General LGBTQ events. The Hungarian leader also pledged to provide new legislation that would prevent demonstrators from preventing traffic on bridges and crowded roads, on the pretext that the right to assembly and expression cannot exceed passenger rights.

Janeos Stomer, a member of the opposition momentum who was protesting, said that although the ban on pride was harmful to members of the LGBTQ community, the law also revolves around “one -sided Urban, it arbitrarily decides the events that can be held in this country that cannot be.”

The Urban government argues that it protects children from “sexual advertising”.

But as the Urban Party is late in opinion polls, critics view the legislation as part of a broader effort for sexual minorities as a scapegoat and mobilization of its conservative base.