Hungarian prosecutors charge Budapest mayor over role in banned LGBTQ+ march
People attend Budapest Pride in the Hungary capital on June 28
By Billy Stockwell, CNN
(CNN) — Hungarian prosecutors have filed charges against the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, for his role in organizing the city’s 30th annual LGBTQ+ Pride event despite a controversial ban, the mayor’s office said Wednesday.
“The prosecution has filed charges and wants to impose a financial penalty on me without a court hearing, simply because we held the largest freedom march of the past decades,” Karácsony said in a statement.
“The fact that hundreds of thousands of people came, that you came, turned that day into an unforgettable miracle,” he added.
Last year, Hungarian lawmakers passed a law banning Pride events in the country and allowing authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those attending any events, sparking outrage from rights groups and some politicians.
Campaigners at the time branded the law illegal and said it was part of a wider crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community. Budapest’s Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to CNN Wednesday it had filed charges against Karácsony for his role in organizing and leading the Pride event.
Despite the law, huge crowds gathered in the Hungarian capital on June 28, 2025, to celebrate the festivities.
Demonstrators carried signs reading “Solidarity with Budapest Pride” and waved placards bearing crossed-out illustrations of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose party has been enacting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation for several years, often under the guise of “child protection.”
In 2020, the country effectively barred same-sex adoption, with Orbán’s office saying at the time the move strengthened “the protection of Hungarian families and the safety of our children.”
A year later, the country banned the distribution of content related to homosexuality or gender change to those under the age of 18, something the European Commission said violated “a number of EU rules.”
Orbán welcomed the Pride ban when it was passed last March, posting on X: “We won’t let woke ideology endanger our kids.”
In response to Wednesday’s announcement, Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party, defended Karácsony, saying he “did exactly what any democratic leader should: he protected the rights, dignity, and safety of his citizens.”
In a show of defiance, Pride organizers are already planning the next march for June 27, 2026, according to Budapest Pride spokesperson Jojó Majercsik. “We will continue to stand firm in our support of the fundamental freedoms that everyone is entitled to,” Majercsik told CNN.
Meanwhile, Karácsony on Wednesday also vowed to continue to “fight” for freedom of expression.
“Despite every threat and every punishment, I will fight it – because when people who want to live, to love, to be happy are simply betrayed by their own country, betrayed by their government, resistance is a duty,” he said.
CNN’s Sophie Tanno and Catherine Nicholls contributed reporting.
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