People march during the 22nd Budapest Pride Parade in Budapest, Hungary, on July 8, 2017. (Xinhua/Csaba Domotor)
BUDAPEST, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Several thousands of people gathered in Budapest on Saturday afternoon to march in the 22nd colourful pride parade of Hungary.
The themes of the speeches revolved around equality of rights. Members of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community in Hungary have no right to marry one another, however, the Hungarian government recognizes a concubine partnership.
A few dozen counter-demonstrators were also present at the parade that started at the massive neo-gothic building of the Hungarian parliament, with signs saying "God sends homosexuals to hell!" or "Marriage only exists between a man and a woman".
"Do not fear marriage from us, we only want equal rights," one of the organizers, Kriszta Szekely told the cheering crowd.
Another speaker, theatre director Arpad Schilling said that the equality of rights would be difficult to achieve, because the majority of Hungarian deputies were homophobic.
The speech of transgender Vay Blanka was focused on the importance of unity within the LGBTQ community. "The totally gay often discredit the bisexuals, the masculine lesbians look down on feminine lesbians whereas lesbian feminists criticize hetero feminists for sleeping with their oppressors, and many times gay men show real hatred for women," she deplored.
"Until the different groups of gay people compete against each other, the conservative politicians have nothing to do but sit back," she warned.
"On the occasion of the 22nd Budapest Pride Festival, we hereby grant our support for the LGBTQ community, and their right to show themselves in a peaceful and lawful manner," they wrote in a joint statement.
The loud march passed through main streets of the Hungarian capital city until it reached the shore of the Danube.
The march was led by a techno truck, with shiny happy people dancing on platforms; several thousands of small rainbow flags were also distributed in the event.
