VVD State Sec., Amsterdam mayor to attend illegal Pride march in Budapest

Caretaker State Secretary Mariëlle Paul (VVD) of Education will attend the banned Pride festivities in Budapest on behalf of the Dutch Cabinet. Parliament had insisted on a Dutch delegation to Pride in Hungary. Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema will also attend, at the invitation of Budapest’s mayor.

In March, the Hungarian parliament passed a law to ban all Pride activities in Budapest. According to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the LGBTQIA+ community’s one big event in a year is “harmful to children.” The man is known for his anti-LGBTQIA+ policy.

Despite this ban, the Budapest Pride organization has continued with preparations for its 30th edition, with the Pride March scheduled for Saturday, June 28.

The Dutch government condemned the law, and a parliamentary majority, including the coalition parties VVD, NSC, and BBB, insisted that a Dutch delegation attend the event. State Secretary Paul, who has emancipation in her portfolio, will represent the Netherlands in Budapest.

“We stand for the rights of LGBTQ people. Not only in our country, but also in other countries in Europe,” Paul told RTL Nieuws. “That is why I think it is incredibly important to encourage the participants of Pride. The EU is also a union of values. IN which everyone can be who they want and can love who they want.”

Amsterdam mayor Halsema will also attend the Pride march on June 28, at the invitation of her colleague Gergely Karácsony from Budapest. Her attendance is “both a show of support for the queer movement, whose freedoms are increasingly under pressure, and for the mayor of Budapest, who stands up for these freedoms by allowing the Pride to go ahead,” Halsema’s spokesperson told NOS.