Revolting against oppression and seeking freedom is ingrained in human nature, something that a repressive regime finds out sooner or later. Change is the only constant, and therefore, it is difficult to hold people under sway for an indefinite period of time through aggressive measures. This is exactly what is happening in Far-Right controlled Hungary, as was revealed in the government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride Parade 28 June when over 200,000 people marched through its capital, Budapest, far more than have taken part in previous such events. The punitive measure backfired. Prime Minister Viktor Orban had warned people a day before the event to stay away from the banned parade, threatening “clear legal consequences” for anyone taking part. Government warnings, however, only turned what is usually a low-key event attended by a few thousand LGBTQ+ activists and their friends into a mass rally against Orban’s government. This is what happens when empty threats are issued against the public without a plan. It helps in consolidating opposition.
Common people, including women and children, travelled from distant places to take part in the rally to showcase their opposition to Orban’s policies. Their common refrain was “it is painful for us to see how stupid they think we all are,” as a 46-year-old woman, Edit Rocza, who is a special-education teacher, put it. These kinds of bans and restrictions are believed to be merely a distraction from the massive corruption, economic downturn and other real problems Hungarians are facing in their country.
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In fact, only in March, Orban’s party rushed legislation through Parliament, that amended the right of assembly, to make it illegal to hold gatherings like Pride parades under an earlier law banning material that “propagates” homosexuality. Participants in such gatherings faced fines of nearly $600 apiece, while organisers risked imprisonment of up to a year.
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The ban was the outcome of the increasing nervousness of Orban and his party, Fidesz, over the rising popularity of Peter Magyar, a conservative opposition leader. To stop Orban’s government from derailing this year’s Pride parade, an annual fixture since 1995, Budapest’s liberal mayor, Gergely Karacsony, recast it as a municipal event celebrating Hungary’s full freedom after Soviet troops pulled out in June 1991. He allowed it to go ahead, renamed as Budapest Pride Freedom. Authorities of the Orban regime were undeterred, insisted it was illegal and threatened the mayor with jail, though they permitted an anti-gay march planned on the same day by a Far-Right party. Orban, a populist nationalist, has long projected Hungary as a bastion of conservative values in his attempts to distract attention from Hungary’s faltering economy and to consolidate his Right-wing rural base. Hungary’s gay community has become one of his favourite targets, as has been the case of many Right-wing parties across the globe. The rally is a tell-tale indication that Orban faces great risk in the next elections. Most opinion polls give the party of his challenger, Magyar, a comfortable lead over Fidesz. This suggests Orban’s party, in power for 15 years after four landslide election victories in a row, could suffer defeat in the general election next year. For his part, Magyar made an intelligent move by staying away from the parade, delivering nonetheless an oblique message through social media that he supported Budapest Pride, accusing Orban of trying “to turn Hungarian against Hungarian, in order to create fear and divide us.” Another sign of the decline of popular support for Orban is that while Budapest Pride had in the past attracted a few foreign diplomats, this year’s march drew more than 70 members of the European Parliament and scores of politicians from across Europe. This wasn’t as much about the Alphabet community’s rights but more about a general opposition to Orban and his policies. The march ceased to be an expression of protest by a particular group of the populace and became a rallying point for all those who are fed up with the government. It is time for leaders like Orban to realise that people cannot be taken for granted for an indefinite period, and actual work must overtake threats and propaganda.
