“We Will Not Be Intimidated” – Organisers of Budapest Gay Pride

Extreme right wing groups plan to stop September’s Pride march “by all means necessary”

BUDAPEST, June 28, 2009  –  Organisers of Budapest Gay Pride are calling for world-wide support for their September event which, they say, is no longer only about the rights of gay and lesbian people, but about the freedom of everyone.

“We call on everyone, straight or gay, to participate in the Pride march and other events,” a spokesperson for the organisers, Szivárvány Misszió Foundation, said.

On June 7, the extreme right wing party, Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), gained enough votes to send three MEPs to the European Parliament.  Then seven days later, the party announced at a press conference that they will work in close cooperation with other extreme right wing political groups to stop “by all means necessary” the Gay Pride march on September 5 in Budapest.

“We are concerned that one of the primary aims of this new political group is to hinder a group of citizens in practicing their constitutional rights,” Budapest Pride organisers said last week in a statement.

“Based on the events that took place in the past two years, it is beyond doubt that “by all means” includes violent attacks on the Pride March as well.

“We will not be intimidated,” they say.  “We must show that the majority of Hungary refuses the violent hatred propagated by these groups – and is committed to human rights and equality before the law for all.”

The Hungarian Constitution and international human rights conventions guarantee the right to peaceful assembly to all – including gays and lesbians.

“The Gay Pride march cannot be stopped by lawful measures, as shown by the decision of the European Court of Human Rights that condemned the banning of the Warsaw Pride in 2005,” the statement continues.

“Gay Pride Marches are held in nearly all capitals of Europe: in most countries it is a cheerful event that combines political demonstration and a fun atmosphere that celebrates diversity with the participation of tens or hundreds of thousands of people.”

The European Union Council of Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, has said: “The European Court of Human Rights has clarified in several judgments that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is not allowed.”

And the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Charter explicitly includes discrimination based on sexual orientation.

“Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people have the same rights as others,” the Pride organisers say.  “The international standards do apply to them as well .... In other words, discrimination against anyone on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is a human rights violation.”

The Hungarian LGBT community has organised annual Pride marches since 1997.  The first ten years saw peaceful demonstrations without any incidents.

But in the past two years, the calls for equality were met with violence from anti-gay protestors.

In 2007 protestors threw eggs, gasoline bombs and bags filled with sand and faeces at the marchers, while shouting “Fags to the Danube, Jews to follow”.  After the parade, gays and lesbians leaving a number of venues were attacked by smaller groups of extremists.

Last year, the violence started before the July Pride march: a gasoline bomb was thrown on the office of the organisers, and the attack on the march was even more violent and organised than the previous year.

It was only as a result of the effective intervention of the police that tragedy was averted.

“The violent attacks were organized by Internet sites linked to extreme right wing groups,” a spokesperson for Budapest Pride told UK Gay News.

 “And based on police reports, calls for gay bashing were openly voiced at the official demonstrations of extreme right wing political groups.”

Organisers are demanding that Jobbik and its allies give up their plans to prevent the Gay Pride march from taking place.

“We call on the police and the prosecutors’ office to closely monitor the operation of these organisations and to take effective action if the groups are preparing to commit criminal activities – violation of the freedom of assembly and violence against a member of a social group.

“We ask that politicians and public figures make it clear that the violent hindrance of a peaceful demonstration is intolerable in a democratic community.”

■ Budapest Pride takes place between August 30 and September 6.  There is a week of LGBT cultural activities, including a film festival.  The Pride march is on Saturday September 5.