In a major blow to LGBTQ+ rights, Hungary’s Parliament has passed a constitutional amendment empowering the government to ban public LGBTQ+ events, including Pride marches, even as tens of thousands rallied in opposition on Saturday in the capital.
Dubbed the “Gray Pride,” the demonstration was a striking visual protest. Marchers dressed in dull, muted tones, offering what one participant described as “a perfect display of what sameness looks like,” a symbolic counter to the vibrant Pride celebrations now under threat.
Despite the public outcry, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party pushed the amendment — known as the Assembly Act — through Parliament in a 140-21 vote.
In a last-ditch effort to halt the bill, opposition politicians and protesters blocked access to a parliamentary parking garage by zip-tying themselves together, according to the Associated Press. Police intervened and cleared the blockade.
The Assembly Act prioritises a child’s “moral, physical, and spiritual development” above all other rights except the right to life, including freedom of peaceful assembly.
Critics liken the legislation to Russia’s notorious “gay propaganda” laws. Hungary, aligning itself with Russia in its anti-Western rhetoric, has already banned what it terms the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors. The amendment formalises a March law that prohibits LGBTQ+ public events entirely.
“This whole endeavour which we see launched by the government, it has nothing to do with children’s rights,” said Dánel Döbrentey, a lawyer from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. “It is definitely and purely and strictly about humiliating people and excluding them, not just from the national community, but even from the community of human beings.”
Döbrentey also noted the amendment explicitly denies the existence of intersex people and enshrines the idea of only two sexes, male and female — echoing far-right narratives abroad, including the American “gender ideology” push.
Momentum party lawmaker Dávid Bedő, who took part in the blockade, accused Orbán and Fidesz of accelerating Hungary’s authoritarian shift: “They have been dismantling democracy and the rule of law… and in the past two or three months, we see that this process has been sped up.”
Bedő added that with Fidesz polling behind a newly popular opposition leader ahead of the 2026 elections, “they will do everything in their power to stay in power.”
The new law also expands surveillance powers, granting Hungarian authorities the right to monitor unsanctioned political events using facial recognition technology.
Ádám Remport, also with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, warned of the ramifications: “More salient in this case is the effect on the freedom of assembly, specifically the chilling effect that arises when people are scared to go out and show their political or ideological beliefs for fear of being persecuted.”
Saturday’s “Gray Pride” march, organised by the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party, was the largest mobilisation yet against the amendment. Protesters held signs reading “being uniform is cool” and “listen to your heart, death to colours,” skewering Orbán’s uniformity narrative.
Marchers rallied under a banner that read “Illiberal Pride,” mocking Hungary’s drift away from democratic norms.
Amid the crowd, not all sentiments were in favour of LGBTQ+ rights. Samuel Tar, clad in grey with friends, told Reuters, “I would strip them of their right to assembly because they are all criminals.” He added, “They would like to express themselves, which is very harmful. Only I should be allowed to express myself, no one else.”
