Gay US ambassador to Hungary marches in Budapest Pride march
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday participated in the annual Budapest Pride march that took place in the Hungarian capital.
Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony and openly gay U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman are among the more than 35,000 people who participated in the event that took place amid fears right-wing protesters would disrupt it. “Everything was great,” Budapest Pride President Viktoria Radvanyi told the Washington Blade after the march.
The U.S., along with 37 other countries, on July 14 issued a joint statement through their respective embassies in support of Budapest Pride. “On the occasion of the 28th Budapest Pride Festival, we the undersigned embassies and cultural institutes express our full support for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in Hungary and their rights to equality and non-discrimination, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and freedom from violence,” reads the statement. “Respect for the rule of law and universal human rights are the foundations upon which democratic states are built.
International human rights law is grounded on the broad premise that all individuals have the same rights and freedoms without discrimination.” “We reject and condemn all acts of violence, hate speech, harassment, stigmatization and discrimination committed against individuals and communities on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or sex characteristics and support the fight against such acts,” it continues. “In this regard, we are concerned with legislation and political rhetoric, including in Hungary, that is in tension with principles of non-discrimination, international human rights law and human
