“A lot of LGBTQ people are afraid and don’t feel like they have a place or a future in this country anymore,” Majercsik told The Associated Press. March organizers expected record crowds at the event, and called on participants to express their opposition to recent steps by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government that critics say stigmatize sexual minorities in the Central European country.īudapest Pride spokesperson Jojo Majercsik said this year’s march is not just a celebration and remembrance of the historical struggles of the LGBT movement but a protest against Orban’s current policies targeting gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer people.

Rising anger over the policies of Hungary’s right-wing government filled the streets of the country’s capital on Saturday as thousands of LGBT supporters marched in the annual Budapest Pride parade.