Budapest Gay Dignity Procession
Encyclopedia
The Budapest Pride is Hungary's largest annual LGBT
event. It has historically been known under several names, including Budapest Gay Dignity Procession or simply "happy parade" (). The parade has taken place each year since 1997, usually on the first Saturday of July, proceeding along Budapest
’s most expansive thoroughfare, Andrássy Avenue
, between the City Park
(Városliget) and Elizabeth Square (Erzsébet tér). Though much smaller in scale than similar gay pride
parades in Western Europe
and the Americas
, between a thousand and two thousand marchers typically participate in the Budapest procession. Radical right-wing
demonstrators and hooligans have severely disrupted the Budapest gay parades held in 2007 and 2008, casting uncertainty over the future of the event.
protestors blew whistles and chanted slogans such as "dirty queers" at marchers as the parade crossed the Elizabeth Bridge
. In 2004, a few activists from the center-right
Christian-Democratic
Hungarian Democratic Forum
political party stood along the route of the procession blowing whistles and holding signs displaying quotations from the Bible, while police took one man into custody for throwing a rock at an officer at the beginning of the parade. In 2005, about 10 neo-Nazis taunted paraders at one point along the route, while the notorious blog
ger, inciter and media manipulator Tamás Polgár (known by the alias "Tomcat") rigged to a pillar of the Chain Bridge
a rolled-up, egg-filled sign, which he intended to unfurl via remote control
as the procession crossed the bridge, thus dropping its contents down onto the marchers. However, the remote-control malfunctioned, forcing Tomcat and an accomplice to climb up the pillar to manually disengage the sign reading "stupid queer gays" (hülye buzi melegek), though only after the parade had passed underneath. In 2006, about a dozen activists from the radical right-wing Movement for a Better Hungary
(Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom) political party and another dozen protestors affiliated with the right-wing extremist Hungarian Self-Defense Movement (Magyar Önvédelmi Mozgalom) heckled participants in the parade.
The 12th Budapest Gay Dignity Procession held on July 7, 2007 was the first to encounter substantial, belligerent protest. Some 2000 participants marched from Procession Square (Felvonulási Tér) past Heroes' Square down Andrássy Avenue. Several balloon-decorated flatbed trucks marshaled the parade down the avenue, blaring techno-pop from mounted speakers and carrying the standard array of shirtless young men, transvestites
, neo-punk
lesbian
s and camp
y-costumed figures, including a man in tight shorts, a black shirt, and a clerical collar
, who held a big pink book bearing a cross
and was later to become the focus of attacks from the far-right media, particularly Kuruc.info.
Several hundred police escorted the procession in full riot gear
, ready to protect participants from expected aggression en route to the parade’s destination at a dance club
located on the Pest side of the Danube
called Buddha Beach. Just as in 2006, the extraparliamentary Jobbik party and the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement had organized demonstrations against the gay parade. However a culture of right-wing public protest and violent hooliganism
had emerged in Hungary during the intervening year with the outbreak of massive anti-government demonstrations known collectively as the "fall disturbances"
(őszi zavargások) in September and October 2006, prompting police to expect that the 2007 protests against the gay parade would be much more extensive and aggressive.
Approximately 500 protesters awaited the parade behind a metal-fence barrier erected at the site of Jobbik’s officially announced anti-gay demonstration at the corner of the Oktogon, chanting "dirty queers!" and pelting marchers with eggs as they turned south onto the Grand Boulevard (Nagy Körút) on their way toward Buddha Beach. A rank of riot police wedged between the procession and the protesters, who had begun to bombard participants with, in addition to eggs, empty beer cans, smoke bomb
s and plastic bag
s filled with petroleum jelly
and sand
, the latter alluding to the Hungarian
slang word , literally "sandy," for "gay." Police chased those seen throwing these objects at marchers up to several hundred yards down the sidewalk, eventually arresting and charging 8 protesters for disturbing the peace
. Police narrowly averted a more brutal assault on the parade, chasing off a group of approximately 30 hooligans, who discarded bags full of empty bottles and fist-sized rocks as they fled down a side street. Jeering protesters accompanied the parade all the way to its terminus, dispersing following a brief standoff with riot cops and police dog
s during which they changed slogans such as "Queers into the Danube, Jews after them!" and "Gyurcsány
[Hungary’s prime minister] get out!"
The Budapest police, after effectively buffering marchers from the protesters during the procession, failed to protect people leaving Buddha Beach later that evening, when, according to parade organizers, 11 attacks took place in the vicinity of the club against gays, two of whom required medical treatment. A freelance photographer for the Hungarian News Agency
MTI
won 2nd place in the 2007 World Press Photo
contest with his photograph of two gay German
tourists
who were among those attacked following the parade. Several civil organizations in Hungary and Amnesty International
criticized the Budapest police (BRFK) for failing to sufficiently protect participants in the 2007 Budapest gay parade, both during and after the event. The BRFK subsequently initiated disciplinary procedures against one officer for failing to respond to a call for police protection
following the parade.
Gábor Tóth
, evidently aware that the 2008 Gay Dignity Procession was likely to elicit even greater protest than that in 2007, on June 11 informed the event's organizer, the Rainbow Mission Foundation [Szivárvány Misszió Alapítvány], that the BRFK had prohibited its request to hold the 2008 parade along Andrássy Avenue on July 5 on the grounds that it would "impede the circulation of mass transit
and vehicle traffic." Fifteen Hungarian gay organizations, including the Rainbow Mission Foundation, sent a letter to the BRFK the following day protesting the decision, urging the Budapest police "not to try to prevent expected right-wing extremist attacks on the parade by forbidding it, but to do its duty to defend the marchers from expected aggression." Additionally, liberal
Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky
refuted Chief Tóth's claim that the parade would unduly obstruct traffic in the vicinity of Andrássy Avenue, while the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
(known in its Hungarian-language acronymic form as TASZ) and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee [Magyar Helsinki Bizottság] human-rights
organization also denounced the BRFK's prohibition of the parade. (TASZ announced that it would provide Hungarian gay organizations with legal services in the event that they chose to file a lawsuit against the BRFK for banning the parade, noting that the Budapest police routinely closes Andrássy Avenue to vehicle traffic for weekend events, most recently for the National Gallop equestrian show
held on the weekend of May 31-June 1, 2008.) The BRFK retracted its prohibition of the gay parade the very same day, on June 12, announcing one week later that it had approved the Rainbow Mission Foundation's original request to hold the event along the established route on the customary first Saturday of July.
The most influential right-wing extremist groups
and websites immediately went on the offensive following the announcement that the Budapest gay parade would be held as usual in 2008. On June 18, Budaházy and his close associate, the leader of the radical-nationalist 64 Counties Youth Movement
[64 Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom] László Toroczkai
, issued a joint communiqué regarding the parade:
All the major right-wing radical websites in Hungary published this announcement, whose authors arguably command the greatest capacity in the country to mobilize right-wing extremists for engagement in violent street action. Also on June 18, the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement (known in its Hungarian-language acronymic form as MÖM), which had been involved in organizing protests against the previous two gay parades, published an appeal on the organization's website under the heading "On July 5 we will attack out of self-defense!":
On June 28, an anonymous self-described founding member of a fan club
for the Budapest soccer team
Ferencváros, whose supporters have a highly publicized history of hooliganism and participation in right-wing extremist street aggression, published a letter on MÖM 's website stating that "we are answering the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement's appeal":
On June 19, Tomcat proposed on his website Bomb Factory (Bombagyár) that a straight parade be held at the same time as the gay parade:
On June 26, Hungary’s primary right-wing extremist website, Kuruc.info, published a list of gay bar
s, cafés, saunas, guest houses and hotels in Budapest. This was an ominous development, since beginning in December 2007 a group called the Arrows of the Hungarians National Liberation Army (Magyarok Nyilai Nemzeti Felszabadító Hadsereg) had firebomb
ed several residences and other locations implicitly identified as targets on the website. Early the following morning, a Molotov cocktail
was thrown into the entry of the gay-frequented Action Bar in Budapest, while on the morning of July 2, four Molotov cocktails were tossed into one ot the city's sauna Gay bathhouse
in Budapest, slightly injuring one of the establishment’s employees. On July 3, Kuruc.info reported on the latter firebombing under the title Cleansing Fire Licks Another Mini Sodom in which the website noted that "Incidentally, we drew the attention of our readers to the sauna, just in case they wanted a little hot air." Though the Arrows of the Hungarians did not claim responsibility for the firebombings as the organization had done in previous cases, usually publishing video recordings of the attacks, Kuruc.info asked the largely rhetorical question
following the assault on the Action Bar "has the Arrows of the Hungarians National Liberation Army struck again?" Kuruc.info further prepared its readers for the gay parade with the publication of detailed instructions, including pictures, two days before the event, on how to fill eggs with dye for throwing at the marchers in the procession.
Tomcat, meanwhile, began the process of organizing his heterosexual counter-procession, though he was first compelled to explain how it was that he had actually marched in the 2004 Gay Dignity Procession:
On July 1, Tomcat summoned his so-called "factory dwellers" to prepare for the Bomb Factory counter-procession:
And finally, on the night before the parade, Tomcat issued a last reminder:
The far-right Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which had led efforts to organize demonstrations against previous Budapest Gay Dignity Processions, remained inactive with regard to the 2008 parade until the morning of the event, when the party published the following communiqué on its website:
The BRFK had good reason to suspect, as the political daily Népszabadság
reported on June 25, that "marchers would be exposed to more and increasingly brutal attacks than last year." All of Hungary's main right-wing extremist leaders, organizations and media—Budaházy, Torockai, Tomcat, the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement, the Hungarian National Committee Jobbik, ostensibly the Arrows of the Hungarians Liberation Army, Kuruc.info, Bombagyár, Holy Crown Radio (Szent Korona Rádió), Barikád.hu—had rallied with an exceptional degree of unity and purpose behind the cause of "defending the capital" against the "pederast horde." (Already in June, the main pages of the Kuruc.info and the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement websites had displayed countdown clocks showing the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start of the 2008 Budapest gay parade.) Far-right attacks on gay parades held the previous weekend in Brno, Czech Republic
and Sofia, Bulgaria
, both of which resulted in a considerable number of arrests, were also a powerful portent of what was likely to take place at the 13th Budapest Gay Dignity Procession.
At the parade, as police helicopter
s hovered overhead, protesters broke down the tall metal fences surrounding the parade's endpoint at Heroes' Square. They threw eggs, bottles, rocks, and firecrackers at the marchers, and cobblestone
s and gasoline bombs at police. At least 10 people were injured, including two policemen, and three media trucks were damaged; they hit, among others, liberal MP
Gabor Horn, and broke the window of the police car
in which Hungarian Socialist Party
MEP
Katalin Levai
was riding with Gábor Szetey
, the first out
gay member of Hungary's government. Riot police dispersed the protesters using tear gas and water cannon
s. A total of 45 to 49 people were arrested. The police protection of the parade had an estimated cost of 500 000 dollars (100 million HUF) for the protection of ~200 gay demonstrators witch became an unusually high cost per person in Hungary.
However, some protestors threw stones at the police and burned the rainbow flag used by the organisers of the parade.
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
event. It has historically been known under several names, including Budapest Gay Dignity Procession or simply "happy parade" (). The parade has taken place each year since 1997, usually on the first Saturday of July, proceeding along Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
’s most expansive thoroughfare, Andrássy Avenue
Andrássy Avenue
Andrássy Avenue is an iconic boulevard in Budapest, Hungary, dating back to 1872. It links Erzsébet Square with the Városliget. Lined with spectacular Neo-renaissance mansions and townhouses featuring fine facades and interiors, it was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002...
, between the City Park
City Park (Budapest)
Városliget is a public park in Budapest, Hungary close to the city centre. It is located in District XIV of Budapest. Its main entrance is Heroes' Square , one of Hungary's World Heritage sites.-Name:The area was formerly called Ökör-dűlő, meaning "Oxmeadow"...
(Városliget) and Elizabeth Square (Erzsébet tér). Though much smaller in scale than similar gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
parades in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
and the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, between a thousand and two thousand marchers typically participate in the Budapest procession. Radical right-wing
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
demonstrators and hooligans have severely disrupted the Budapest gay parades held in 2007 and 2008, casting uncertainty over the future of the event.
Early years
There was only a smattering of public protest against the first eleven Budapest gay parades, until the one held in July 2007. In 2003, prominent right-wing radical György Budaházy and a group of about 30 anti-gayLGBT rights opposition
LGBT rights opposition refers to active opposition to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights. Organizations influential in LGBT rights opposition frequently challenge judicial rulings, and legislative initiatives, and dispute findings that sexual orientation is an immutable...
protestors blew whistles and chanted slogans such as "dirty queers" at marchers as the parade crossed the Elizabeth Bridge
Erzsébet Bridge
Elisabeth Bridge is the third newest bridge of Budapest, Hungary, connecting Buda and Pest across the River Danube. The bridge is situated at the narrowest part of the Danube in the Budapest area, spanning only 290 m. It is named after Queen Elisabeth, a popular queen and empress of...
. In 2004, a few activists from the center-right
Centre-right
The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...
Christian-Democratic
Christian Democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe under the influence of conservatism and Catholic social teaching...
Hungarian Democratic Forum
Hungarian Democratic Forum
The Hungarian Democratic Forum , abbreviated to MDF, was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a liberal conservative and Christian democratic ideology...
political party stood along the route of the procession blowing whistles and holding signs displaying quotations from the Bible, while police took one man into custody for throwing a rock at an officer at the beginning of the parade. In 2005, about 10 neo-Nazis taunted paraders at one point along the route, while the notorious blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, inciter and media manipulator Tamás Polgár (known by the alias "Tomcat") rigged to a pillar of the Chain Bridge
Széchenyi Chain Bridge
The Széchenyi Chain Bridge is a suspension bridge that spans the River Danube between Buda and Pest, the western and eastern sides of Budapest, the capital of Hungary...
a rolled-up, egg-filled sign, which he intended to unfurl via remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
as the procession crossed the bridge, thus dropping its contents down onto the marchers. However, the remote-control malfunctioned, forcing Tomcat and an accomplice to climb up the pillar to manually disengage the sign reading "stupid queer gays" (hülye buzi melegek), though only after the parade had passed underneath. In 2006, about a dozen activists from the radical right-wing Movement for a Better Hungary
Movement for a Better Hungary
Jobbik, The Movement for a Better Hungary commonly known as Jobbik, is a Hungarian radical nationalist political party. Jobbik has been denoted by scholars, different press outlets and its political opponents as fascist, neo-fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Roma and homophobic...
(Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom) political party and another dozen protestors affiliated with the right-wing extremist Hungarian Self-Defense Movement (Magyar Önvédelmi Mozgalom) heckled participants in the parade.
2007
Transvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
, neo-punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
s and camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
y-costumed figures, including a man in tight shorts, a black shirt, and a clerical collar
Clerical collar
A clerical collar is an item of Christian clerical clothing. It is a detachable collar that buttons onto a clergy shirt or rabbat , being fastened by two metal studs, one attached at the front and one at the back to hold the collar to the shirt. The collar closes at the back of the neck, presenting...
, who held a big pink book bearing a cross
Cross
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...
and was later to become the focus of attacks from the far-right media, particularly Kuruc.info.
Several hundred police escorted the procession in full riot gear
Riot control
Riot control refers to the measures used by police, military, or other security forces to control, disperse, and arrest civilians who are involved in a riot, demonstration, or protest. Law enforcement officers or soldiers have long used non-lethal weapons such as batons and whips to disperse crowds...
, ready to protect participants from expected aggression en route to the parade’s destination at a dance club
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
located on the Pest side of the Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
called Buddha Beach. Just as in 2006, the extraparliamentary Jobbik party and the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement had organized demonstrations against the gay parade. However a culture of right-wing public protest and violent hooliganism
Hooliganism
Hooliganism refers to unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour. Such behaviour is commonly associated with sports fans. The term can also apply to general rowdy behaviour and vandalism, often under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs....
had emerged in Hungary during the intervening year with the outbreak of massive anti-government demonstrations known collectively as the "fall disturbances"
2006 protests in Hungary
The 2006 protests in Hungary were a series of anti-government protests triggered by the release of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's private speech in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, and had done nothing worth mentioning in the...
(őszi zavargások) in September and October 2006, prompting police to expect that the 2007 protests against the gay parade would be much more extensive and aggressive.
Approximately 500 protesters awaited the parade behind a metal-fence barrier erected at the site of Jobbik’s officially announced anti-gay demonstration at the corner of the Oktogon, chanting "dirty queers!" and pelting marchers with eggs as they turned south onto the Grand Boulevard (Nagy Körút) on their way toward Buddha Beach. A rank of riot police wedged between the procession and the protesters, who had begun to bombard participants with, in addition to eggs, empty beer cans, smoke bomb
Smoke bomb
A smoke bomb is a firework designed to produce smoke upon ignition. Smoke bombs are useful to military units, airsoft games, paintball games, self defense and pranks...
s and plastic bag
Plastic bag
A plastic bag, polybag, or pouch is a type of packaging made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, comic books, chemicals and waste.Most plastic bags are...
s filled with petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
and sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
, the latter alluding to the Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
slang word , literally "sandy," for "gay." Police chased those seen throwing these objects at marchers up to several hundred yards down the sidewalk, eventually arresting and charging 8 protesters for disturbing the peace
Disturbing the Peace
Disturbing the Peace is the second studio album by Alcatrazz, and is the only one featuring Steve Vai on guitar. One of the singles, God Blessed Video, can be found on the fictional radio station, V-Rock, on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Weeks on Chart: 7, Peak: #133...
. Police narrowly averted a more brutal assault on the parade, chasing off a group of approximately 30 hooligans, who discarded bags full of empty bottles and fist-sized rocks as they fled down a side street. Jeering protesters accompanied the parade all the way to its terminus, dispersing following a brief standoff with riot cops and police dog
Police dog
A police dog, often referred to as a "K-9 dog" in some areas , is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and other law-enforcement personnel in their work...
s during which they changed slogans such as "Queers into the Danube, Jews after them!" and "Gyurcsány
Ferenc Gyurcsány
Ferenc Gyurcsány is a Hungarian politician. He was the sixth Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009.He was nominated to take that position on 25 August 2004 by the Hungarian Socialist Party , after Péter Medgyessy resigned due to a conflict with the Socialist Party's coalition partner...
[Hungary’s prime minister] get out!"
The Budapest police, after effectively buffering marchers from the protesters during the procession, failed to protect people leaving Buddha Beach later that evening, when, according to parade organizers, 11 attacks took place in the vicinity of the club against gays, two of whom required medical treatment. A freelance photographer for the Hungarian News Agency
News agency
A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service.-History:The oldest news agency is Agence...
MTI
Magyar Távirati Iroda
MTI is a Hungarian news agency. One of the oldest news agencies in the world, it was founded in 1880.MTI is owned by MTI Rt., founded by the Parliament. The members of the Owners’ Advisory Body are elected by the National Assembly of Hungary on four-year terms. It's a marketleader, and is...
won 2nd place in the 2007 World Press Photo
World Press Photo
World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organization is known for holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest....
contest with his photograph of two gay German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
tourists
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
who were among those attacked following the parade. Several civil organizations in Hungary and Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
criticized the Budapest police (BRFK) for failing to sufficiently protect participants in the 2007 Budapest gay parade, both during and after the event. The BRFK subsequently initiated disciplinary procedures against one officer for failing to respond to a call for police protection
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
following the parade.
2008
Budapest Police ChiefChief of police
A Chief of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department, particularly in North America. Alternate titles for this position include Commissioner, Superintendent, and Chief constable...
Gábor Tóth
Gábor Tóth
Gábor Tóth is a Hungarian football player who currently plays for Lombard-Pápa TFC.- References :**...
, evidently aware that the 2008 Gay Dignity Procession was likely to elicit even greater protest than that in 2007, on June 11 informed the event's organizer, the Rainbow Mission Foundation [Szivárvány Misszió Alapítvány], that the BRFK had prohibited its request to hold the 2008 parade along Andrássy Avenue on July 5 on the grounds that it would "impede the circulation of mass transit
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
and vehicle traffic." Fifteen Hungarian gay organizations, including the Rainbow Mission Foundation, sent a letter to the BRFK the following day protesting the decision, urging the Budapest police "not to try to prevent expected right-wing extremist attacks on the parade by forbidding it, but to do its duty to defend the marchers from expected aggression." Additionally, liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky
Gábor Demszky
Gábor Demszky is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010.- Biography :...
refuted Chief Tóth's claim that the parade would unduly obstruct traffic in the vicinity of Andrássy Avenue, while the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
Since its inception in 1994, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union is a leading non-governmental organization in the field of human rights and harm reduction advocacy in Hungary...
(known in its Hungarian-language acronymic form as TASZ) and the Hungarian Helsinki Committee [Magyar Helsinki Bizottság] human-rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organization also denounced the BRFK's prohibition of the parade. (TASZ announced that it would provide Hungarian gay organizations with legal services in the event that they chose to file a lawsuit against the BRFK for banning the parade, noting that the Budapest police routinely closes Andrássy Avenue to vehicle traffic for weekend events, most recently for the National Gallop equestrian show
Horse show
A Horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and...
held on the weekend of May 31-June 1, 2008.) The BRFK retracted its prohibition of the gay parade the very same day, on June 12, announcing one week later that it had approved the Rainbow Mission Foundation's original request to hold the event along the established route on the customary first Saturday of July.
The most influential right-wing extremist groups
Extremist Groups
Extremist Groups: An International Compilation of Terrorist Organizations, Violent Political Groups, and Issue-Oriented Militant Movements is a reference book compiling information on over 200 groups classified as extremist.Contributing editor Richard H...
and websites immediately went on the offensive following the announcement that the Budapest gay parade would be held as usual in 2008. On June 18, Budaházy and his close associate, the leader of the radical-nationalist 64 Counties Youth Movement
64 Counties Youth Movement
The Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement is a far-right, racist extremist movement in Hungary which advocating unification of all ethnic Hungarians that live outside of Hungary and revision of Trianon Treaty from 1920, which defined the current borders of the Hungarian state...
[64 Vármegye Ifjúsági Mozgalom] László Toroczkai
László Toroczkai
László Toroczkai is a leader of the far-right extremist 64 Counties Youth Movement in Hungary that advocating revision of the Trianon Treaty of 1920, which defined the current borders of the Hungarian state....
, issued a joint communiqué regarding the parade:
We will not permit aberrant foreigners of this or that color to force their alien and sick world on Hungary. We hereby publicly declare that we, ourselves, will defend the Hungarian capital. Every Hungarian patriot is needed! Stand among the defenders, or form defensive forces from among your groups and organizations, and come to the OktogonOktogonOktogon is one of Pest's major intersections, located at the junction of the Grand Boulevard and Andrássy Avenue in Budapest, Hungary...
in Budapest at 4 o'clock in the afternoon of July 5.! It is our moral duty to act. . .
The Rainbow Rampage, the aggressive pederastPederastyPederasty or paederasty is an intimate relationship between an adult and an adolescent boy outside his immediate family. The word pederasty derives from Greek "love of boys", a compound derived from "child, boy" and "lover".Historically, pederasty has existed as a variety of customs and...
caravan of degenerate foreigners that is traversing Europe, will arrive to its final stop in Budapest on July 4, Freemasonry's biggest holiday and the anniversary of the signing of America's Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of independenceA declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
, in order to celebrate queerdom in our capital for several days on end. Beginning at 4 p.m. on July 5, this exhibitionistExhibitionismExhibitionism refers to a desire or compulsion to expose parts of one's body – specifically the genitals or buttocks of a man or woman, or the breasts of a woman – in a public or semi-public circumstance, in crowds or groups of friends or acquaintances, or to strangers...
queer rabble will hold a public procession and street ball, trampling under foot all fundamental traditional moral values and proclaiming Hungary's occupation by aberrants and foreigners.
HOWEVER.
During these days, we Hungarian patriots will recall the Battle of Pressburg in which the forces of our founding father, Prince Árpád, inflicted a crushing defeat upon the western armies. . .
The army of Hunnia will defend the capital of the Hungarians on July 5, 2008!.
All the major right-wing radical websites in Hungary published this announcement, whose authors arguably command the greatest capacity in the country to mobilize right-wing extremists for engagement in violent street action. Also on June 18, the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement (known in its Hungarian-language acronymic form as MÖM), which had been involved in organizing protests against the previous two gay parades, published an appeal on the organization's website under the heading "On July 5 we will attack out of self-defense!":
We summon all Hungarians, responsibly minded families, fathers and mothers,
to all come and expel the pederast horde once and for all! We cannot simply watch passively as as such genetic trash shows a bad example for our children! . . . We call upon all Hungarian self-defenders to resist on Saturday afternoon on July 5, we will meet at the designated place! We will unite our forces at the Oktogon!
On June 28, an anonymous self-described founding member of a fan club
Fan club
A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...
for the Budapest soccer team
Football team
A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...
Ferencváros, whose supporters have a highly publicized history of hooliganism and participation in right-wing extremist street aggression, published a letter on MÖM 's website stating that "we are answering the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement's appeal":
We will be there! With weapons if we must, with bare hands if we must, but we will not let things stand as they are! Let those who oppose us tremble with fear!
On June 19, Tomcat proposed on his website Bomb Factory (Bombagyár) that a straight parade be held at the same time as the gay parade:
The annual "gay pride" day is coming as usual. The queers spend millions on their exhibitionism so that a few hundred people can put their perversions on display for the world. Are there enough healthy, heterosexual people out there, who marching opposite them, not shouting, not throwing things (we don’t need a parade to do this), perhaps holding handsHolding handsHolding hands is a form of physical intimacy involving two or more people. It may or may not be sexual.Whether friends hold hands depends on culture and gender: in the Western culture this is mainly done by women and small children , spouses and romantic couples...
with their partners, to show that the love of the opposite sex is worth more?
On June 26, Hungary’s primary right-wing extremist website, Kuruc.info, published a list of gay bar
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
s, cafés, saunas, guest houses and hotels in Budapest. This was an ominous development, since beginning in December 2007 a group called the Arrows of the Hungarians National Liberation Army (Magyarok Nyilai Nemzeti Felszabadító Hadsereg) had firebomb
Firebomb
Firebomb may refer to:* Firebombing* Incendiary device* Molotov cocktail* A season 2 episode of the television show Alias* "Fire Bomb", a song by Rihanna from her 2009 album Rated R...
ed several residences and other locations implicitly identified as targets on the website. Early the following morning, a Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
was thrown into the entry of the gay-frequented Action Bar in Budapest, while on the morning of July 2, four Molotov cocktails were tossed into one ot the city's sauna Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouse
Gay bathhouses, also known as gay saunas or steam baths, are commercial bathhouses for men to have sex with other men. In gay slang in some regions these venues are also known colloquially as "the baths" or "the tubs," and should not be confused with public bathing.Not all men who visit gay...
in Budapest, slightly injuring one of the establishment’s employees. On July 3, Kuruc.info reported on the latter firebombing under the title Cleansing Fire Licks Another Mini Sodom in which the website noted that "Incidentally, we drew the attention of our readers to the sauna, just in case they wanted a little hot air." Though the Arrows of the Hungarians did not claim responsibility for the firebombings as the organization had done in previous cases, usually publishing video recordings of the attacks, Kuruc.info asked the largely rhetorical question
Rhetorical question
A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply. Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to think about what the answer to the question must be. When a speaker states, "How much longer must our people...
following the assault on the Action Bar "has the Arrows of the Hungarians National Liberation Army struck again?" Kuruc.info further prepared its readers for the gay parade with the publication of detailed instructions, including pictures, two days before the event, on how to fill eggs with dye for throwing at the marchers in the procession.
Tomcat, meanwhile, began the process of organizing his heterosexual counter-procession, though he was first compelled to explain how it was that he had actually marched in the 2004 Gay Dignity Procession:
. . . I participated carrying a "NOT ME" sign, though I did not want to eliminate or throw things at anybody. In fact, I found the events that took place there to be absolutely acceptable . . . Yes, I observed the 2004 queer parade from the inside. I also took photos and chatted with the queers. I met among them some old buddies as well. And I still maintain that there was no problem with that parade. But I also maintain that now, in 2008, go ahead and bombard them with all sorts of stuff and eradicate their organizers. . . In 2004, and earlier I think, there were neither fags running around half naked, nor pink-Bible-licking obscenities, nor rump rummagers jumping all over each other in public. . . However, one year later the Pride had totally changed and was not simply a party for queers. Politics had got hold of it by that time, the lackey media did the job of vilifying the "homophobesHomophobiaHomophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
," and the whole thing degenerated into an unprincipled advertisement for wild-liberal values. . . The standard has been sinking ever since. It is no accident that fewer and fewer normal homos support the parade. . . With regard to my allegedly boundless homophobia, it is enough to note that Bomb Factory has a gay editor as well. He doesn’t make any particular secret out of it. And I have several gay friends and acquaintances besides him as well. None of them will be there [at the gay parade] on Saturday. Surely they are "far-right extremists" too.
On July 1, Tomcat summoned his so-called "factory dwellers" to prepare for the Bomb Factory counter-procession:
There are only a couple of days left until the Saturday street battles, so it is time that we began getting ready. Of course, we would not for the world harm those dear homosexual people, who want to truck down the entire length of Andrássy Avenue, but let’s at least show them that we are here on this world as well. . . We welcome all our healthy, heterosexual friends and also those homos who condemn those lunatics dressed in their disgusting garb and kindly decline to have these people represent them. Our procession will travel along the same route as that of the queers, and we will proceed down Andrássy Avenue opposite them. We won’t yell, we won’t throw things, we won’t murder—the Kuruc people will do that in our place.
And finally, on the night before the parade, Tomcat issued a last reminder:
You haven’t forgotten have you? . . . We welcome everybody, and bring your partners with you. Those who would like to beat up queers can join Budaházy’s group, though I don’t see a very good opportunity to do this with so many cops around. . . Our demonstration will not be violent, we aren’t going to throw things or fight. Of course, it is still possible to thwart the queer parade. A kind Bomb Factory dweller is organizing an egg-throwing team. Those interested should contact . . .
The far-right Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which had led efforts to organize demonstrations against previous Budapest Gay Dignity Processions, remained inactive with regard to the 2008 parade until the morning of the event, when the party published the following communiqué on its website:
Ban the Queer Procession from Budapest!
The instigators motivated in the force field of the extreme-liberal SZDSZAlliance of Free DemocratsThe Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party is a liberal party in Hungary, led since July 2010 by Viktor Szabadai . The SZDSZ is a member of the ELDR and of Liberal International...
are marching on the streets to demonstrate in favor of their deviant views this year as well. . . We inform the misguided people preparing to take to the streets: you can still turn back before you collide the walls of awakening and organizing social resistance!
There is currently a government-inspired show-like trial taking place against the Hungarian Guard [Magyar Gárda], while liberals and left-wingers within several local councilsLocal governmentLocal government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
have initiated the prohibition of this charitable organizationCharitable organizationA charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
from their territory, including Budapest. At the same time, the police, in conformity with [Budapest Mayor] Gábor DemszkyGábor DemszkyGábor Demszky is a Hungarian politician, lawyer and sociologist by qualification. Demszky was the Mayor of Budapest from 1990 to 2010.- Biography :...
’s expectations, chose to review their original decision and permitted the initially banned homosexual event. . .
We request that the self-defined Christian-conservative MDFHungarian Democratic ForumThe Hungarian Democratic Forum , abbreviated to MDF, was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a liberal conservative and Christian democratic ideology...
and Fidesz-KDNPFidesz – Hungarian Civic UnionThe Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union is a major conservative party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-KDNP won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36...
not distance themselves from Jobbik and the Hungarian Guard, but from the true extremists. We urge them to read the Old TestamentOld TestamentThe Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, Leviticus 20:13: "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to deathCapital punishmentCapital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
; their blood will be on their own heads."
The BRFK had good reason to suspect, as the political daily Népszabadság
Népszabadság
Népszabadság is a major left-leaning Hungarian newspaper, founded in 1956 as successor of "Szabad Nép" , the central organ of the dissolved Hungarian Working People's Party...
reported on June 25, that "marchers would be exposed to more and increasingly brutal attacks than last year." All of Hungary's main right-wing extremist leaders, organizations and media—Budaházy, Torockai, Tomcat, the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement, the Hungarian National Committee Jobbik, ostensibly the Arrows of the Hungarians Liberation Army, Kuruc.info, Bombagyár, Holy Crown Radio (Szent Korona Rádió), Barikád.hu—had rallied with an exceptional degree of unity and purpose behind the cause of "defending the capital" against the "pederast horde." (Already in June, the main pages of the Kuruc.info and the Hungarian Self-Defense Movement websites had displayed countdown clocks showing the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds until the start of the 2008 Budapest gay parade.) Far-right attacks on gay parades held the previous weekend in Brno, Czech Republic
Brno
Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
and Sofia, Bulgaria
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, both of which resulted in a considerable number of arrests, were also a powerful portent of what was likely to take place at the 13th Budapest Gay Dignity Procession.
At the parade, as police helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s hovered overhead, protesters broke down the tall metal fences surrounding the parade's endpoint at Heroes' Square. They threw eggs, bottles, rocks, and firecrackers at the marchers, and cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
s and gasoline bombs at police. At least 10 people were injured, including two policemen, and three media trucks were damaged; they hit, among others, liberal MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Gabor Horn, and broke the window of the police car
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
in which Hungarian Socialist Party
Hungarian Socialist Party
The Hungarian Socialist Party describes itself as a social democratic party in Hungary. It is the partial successor of the communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party , which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. The decision to declare the party a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and...
MEP
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Katalin Levai
Katalin Lévai
Katalin Lévai is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Hungarian Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists....
was riding with Gábor Szetey
Gábor Szetey
Gábor Szetey is a Hungarian politician and former Secretary of State for Human Resources in the Gyurcsány government, a role he held since July 2006. He is a member of the Hungarian Socialist Party.-Biography:...
, the first out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay member of Hungary's government. Riot police dispersed the protesters using tear gas and water cannon
Water cannon
A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-pressure stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of metres / hundreds of feet. They are used in firefighting and riot control. Most water cannon fall under the category of a fire...
s. A total of 45 to 49 people were arrested. The police protection of the parade had an estimated cost of 500 000 dollars (100 million HUF) for the protection of ~200 gay demonstrators witch became an unusually high cost per person in Hungary.
2009
The police kept protestors, but also other onlookers and well-wishers, one block away from Andrássy Road, so that the march had no contact to the public, although it was extensively covered by television. An infiltrator attempted to disrupt the march by bursting balloons, but was frightened away by booing.However, some protestors threw stones at the police and burned the rainbow flag used by the organisers of the parade.