IRISH LGBTQI+ COMMUNITY CALLS FOR CLEAR ACTIONS IN RESPONSE TO HUNGARY’S SHAMEFUL BAN ON PRIDE 

PRESS RELEASE

31 March 2025 

For Immediate Release 

Sixteen LGBTQI+ community organisations have today written to the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris TD, Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne TD, and to Irish MEPS, to outline their deep concern about the Orbán government’s shameful banning of Pride events in Hungary, and to call for clear action to protect the fundamental right of LGBTQI+ communities and allies to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and non-discrimination.  

Paula Fagan, CEO of LGBT Ireland, stated:  

“By introducing a law banning Pride on the basis of Hungary’s notorious  anti-LGBTQI+ Propaganda Law adopted in 2021, Orbán’s government is showing contempt not just for the LGBTQI+ community, but for fundamental human rights, basic democratic principles, and the very values of human dignity, freedom, democracy and equality that underpin the European Union.  

Any attempt to restrict or ban Pride is an attack not just on the LGBTQI+ community but on everyone’s right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and the right to be free from discrimination, and is wholly unacceptable and illegal under EU law. 

It is crucial that Ireland work with its EU counterparts to hold the Orbán government accountable for these latest attacks on the LGBTQI+ community and allies in Hungary. We need to see urgent action from the EU to protect the Hungarian LGBTQI+ community’s human rights to freedom of expression and of assembly. 

We also endorse the call by Budapest Pride for Ireland and other EU states to very visibly demonstrate their solidarity and support by sending a diplomatic delegation to attend and support the Budapest Pride march and events taking place on 28^th June.”  

Adam Long, Board Director of the National LGBT Federation (NXF), added:  

“We must be clear: What is happening in Hungary not only amounts to state sanctioned homophobic persecution but a direct attack on the European Union itself. It should be a watershed moment for how the EU responds to the Orban regime. 

These escalating attacks on Pride and the LGBTQ+ community more generally come straight out of the autocratic playbook of Putin’s Russia. Orbán, clearly emboldened by wider geopolitical attacks on human rights and democratic norms, is now seeking to criminalise the very visibility of LGBTQ+ people.  

The EU response should be firm and unequivocal. Therefore, we are calling on the Irish government to support calls for the European Commission to seek interim measures from the European Court of Justice in relation to its lawsuit against Orbán’s homophobic legislation enacted in 2021, which Ireland and a record number of other member states are also party to, directing that Pride must go ahead.” 

Jamie Kenny, Co-CEO of Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride, added:  

“As the largest Pride organisation on the island of Ireland, we are proud to join with our LGBTQ+ sectoral colleagues across Ireland to stand in unwavering solidarity with our friends, colleagues, and communities in Hungary in the face of the Hungarian Government’s decision to ban Pride events across the country.  

Pride is more than just a celebration—it is a movement for visibility, rights, and justice. Attempts to silence it are attempts to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life. We reject this oppression and stand with those in Hungary who continue to resist it. 

We call on European institutions, national governments, and civil society to take urgent action to support LGBTQ+ people in Hungary and to hold the Hungarian Government accountable for its violations of human rights. 

To our friends in Hungary: you are not alone. We see you, we support you, and we will continue to stand with you in the fight for equality.” 

ENDS 

For more information: 

Adam Long (NXF): 085 7054537/adam@nex.ie 

Tim Hanley (LGBT Ireland): 0863316608/tim@lgbt.ie 

The sixteen LGBTQI+ community organisations are: 

Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland 

Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride 

Gay Health Network 

Gay Project 

GOSHH Ireland 

HIV Ireland 

Intersex Ireland 

LGBT Ireland 

LINQ Ireland 

Mammies for Trans Rights 

Midlands LGBT+ Project 

National LGBT Federation 

Outcomers 

Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre 

ShoutOut 

Transgender Equality Network Ireland