Hungarians march against anti-LGBTQ law for Pride
Thousands of Hungarians joined the annual Budapest Pride march on Saturday (July 24) to support LGBTQ people and protest against a law that limits teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues in schools.
Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in power since 2010, has introduced social policies that he says aim to safeguard traditional Christian values from Western liberalism.
Organizers said in a statement the rally was against "power-hungry politicians" who used laws to make members of the LGBTQ community, quote, "outcasts in their own country".
Orban's law, which came into force this month, has stoked tensions with the European Union, which has launched legal action against the government.
The Fidesz-Christian Democrat government, which faces a tough election next year, says LGBTQ rights are matters for national governments to decide. It says the law aims to protect children.
Orban owes some of his electoral success to a tough line on immigration. Since that issue has receded from the political agenda, his focus has shifted to gender and sexuality.
A survey last month by Ipsos found that 46% of Hungarians supported same-sex marriage.
More than 40 embassies and foreign cultural institutions in Hungary issued a statement backing the Budapest Pride Festival.
