Gergely Karacsony encouraged supporters to defy a police ban on last year’s LGBTQ event
Hungarian prosecutors are seeking a fine for Budapest’s opposition mayor over his role in boosting attendance at a pride parade last year—an event police had banned under newly enacted legislation.
The parade took place in June, months after Hungary passed laws that applied an existing ban on exposing minors to LGBTQ-themed content to public assemblies. Gergely Karacsony, who has been in office since 2019, rejected the ban and urged supporters to attend.
District prosecutors filed the charges, the Prosecutor General’s Office announced Wednesday. It noted Karacsony did not pursue legal recourse to overturn the ban but instead released video statements encouraging its violation. Prosecutors are seeking a fine without a trial.
Karacsony said he was proud to move from suspect to accused, calling it the price of “standing up for our own and others’ freedom” and repeating his call to oppose what he termed “a selfish, petty, and vile government.”
Prior to the rally, he argued the parade was a municipal event—not a standard public assembly requiring police permission. Organizers reported record attendance.
Earlier this month, Karacsony received the Dutch Geuzenpenning award for “courageous commitment to democratic values” and pro-LGBTQ advocacy.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s conservative government has repeatedly clashed with EU leadership over its traditional-values policies, which Brussels says violate minority rights. Budapest claims the “woke agenda” harms society and must be resisted.