Irish MEP takes part in Budapest Pride as thousands demonstrate in Berlin

Approximately 30,000 people attended the demonstration, according to the organizers, with many of them coming out to oppose the new legislation introduced by Viktor Orban’s government.

Last month, the Hungarian Parliament adopted a bill banning any reference to LGBTQ+ in educational materials, prime-time television, or programs and films aimed at children.

This has sparked mass criticism across the European Union, said Michel Martin Taoiseach «moral pressure» It should be placed on the government of Viktor Orban regarding LGBTQ+ rights.

Speaking at the Budapest Pride 2021, Ms Walsh, a former Rose of Tralee and member of the LGBTQ+ community, said Orbán’s government needed to respect EU principles including «basic human rights and equality».

“We are here to show our support for our Hungarian family members, activists and allies.

«We are here to proclaim from the rooftops that fundamental human rights and equality are a principle of the European Union, and therefore must be respected and supported by Orbán and Fidesz here in Hungary.»

«It’s great to see young and old, family units, members of our trans community, here from Budapest Pride 2021. Love equals love,» she said.

Meanwhile, in Germany, some 35,000 revelers demonstrated for LGBT rights at Berlin’s annual Christopher Street Day celebration – twice as much as expected.

The show began with a call from Klaus Lederer, Berlin’s senator for culture, to make the city a «queer freedom zone» in response to the deteriorating safety of gays and lesbians in neighboring Poland.

Mr Lederer said the situation in the two EU member states «sends a chill in my back».

The senator also noted that the pandemic has been particularly difficult for some gays and lesbians at home as shelters have been closed.

«There is still a lot of work to be done,» he said.

Parade organizers were expecting about 20,000 people amid social distancing rules and a ban on alcoholic beverages to combat the risk of infection with the new coronavirus.

There was no parade last year due to the pandemic, so many people took advantage of the warm sunny weather and relatively low infection rate to participate in the last Pride Month big gathering in Berlin.

Nearby, the US Embassy has raised a rainbow flag under the American flag.

The march was led by five trucks spaced out to give protesters more space as they danced in front of the city’s famous Brandenburg Gate.

Organizers made repeated calls for revelers to put on masks and keep their distance – although this was not always possible due to the huge number of people.

The festivities were preceded by an apparently homophobic attack on a married couple on a Berlin subway late Friday.

Police said the men were sitting on a train when they were approached by a stranger who insulted them and then punched them several times.

Other passengers intervened and he was arrested shortly after escaping.

Also on Friday, Bishop Christian Stapelin, during a mass in Berlin’s Marienkirche, asked the LGBTQ community for forgiveness for the suffering the Evangelical Church had caused them.