Gazeta Lodz - Thousands attend banned Pride march in Hungarian city Pecs

AFP counted between 7,000 and 8,000 protestors who set off from the city centre at around 2:00 pm local time (1200 GMT).

"I am here today because unfortunately, this demonstration is no longer just about the LGBTQ community but about the restriction of our fundamental human rights," student Bence Toth, 18, told AFP.

"I am not directly involved in any LGBTQ organisations or the community, but many of my students and friends are," teacher and psychologist Edit Sinko, 58, said. "And I don't understand why we should ban them."

The crowd sported colourful flags as well as anti-government signs bearing slogans such as "Hungary is a dictatorship".

Organisers circumvented a ban on pro-LGBTQ protests by declaring the parade's purpose was to draw attention to "the overpopulation of wild animals" and the accidents they cause, Peter Heindl, a lawyer and human rights activist, told AFP.

Police banned the Pecs Pride march on September 6, followed by the Supreme Court on September 15, and participants could face fines.

The march is the only one in Hungary to occur outside Budapest.

More than 200,000 people attended the capital's latest Pride march in June -- also defying a police ban.

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony was summoned by the police in August after he authorised the event.

Viktor Orban's ultraconservative government adopted a law banning LGBTQ parades in mid-March.

Orban has framed the restriction as an effort to promote "child protection".

Several counter-protesters attempted to block the Pecs parade on Saturday but quickly gave up.

Members of the European Parliament including independent Romanian MEP Nicolae Stefanuta and Luxembourg's green MEP Tilly Metz showed up to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

L.Sobczak--GL