Police said at least some seven people were injured including a journalist and two police officers, while a total of 45 people were taken into custody.
During the evening Saturday, July 5, BosNewsLife witnessed that police cars and police vans raced through Andrassy Road, Budapest’s main boulevard, to contain further unrest. Hundreds of people demonstrated here for gay rights during the day, Saturday, July 5, in what is known as the Gay Pride Parade, despite threats from far right groups.
Gays, lesbians and their supporters tried to dance and wave to spectators standing behind iron fences. Soon, troubles began as protesters, some shouting anti-semitic slogans, attacked marchers with eggs, bottles and rocks.
In addition, gasoline bombs were thrown at police, some from balconies, setting fire to a police van. Among those attacked were a liberal parliamentarian Gabor Horn, a police car carrying former undersecretary Gabor Szetey, the first openly gay Hungarian politician, and a Hungarian member of the European Parliament Katalin Levai.
WORST VIOLENCE
Observers called it the worst violence during the dozen years the Gay Pride Parade has taken place in Budapest.
At least one woman and a man shouted to a reporter that they are shocked about the gay parade, and that it had no place in Hungarian society. However 30-year-old Hungarian Gusztar Szepesi said he believes Hungarians in this former communist country should learn to deal with democracy.
"During the first Gay Parades Hungarians thought that people participating in them were drug users. Now they should know better," he said. "Gays exist and they should have the right to demonstrate, as Hungary is a democratic country."
MORE VIOLENCE
Saturday’s violence came after two recent attacks on gay businesses in Budapest.
On Thursday four gasoline bombs were thrown at a sauna frequented by gays, injuring several people, while last week a bomb was thrown at a gay bar. The attacks were apparently encouraged by neo-nazi activists who used the Internet to urge tough action against what they called "unnatural perverts."
Gay rights watchers suggest that Saturday’s clashes seem part of a wider problem in Europe. Last weekend, Gay Pride Parades in the Czech Republic and Bulgaria were also disrupted.
A human rights watchdog of the European Union, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, said last Tuesday that a third of EU states are still failing to ensure equal rights for gays and lesbians in areas of employment, housing, social aid and access to services.
It comes amid a debate on the future of families in Hungary, which has a declining population amid growing social tensions in the post-communist era. Some church groups have argued that Hungary, a predominantly Catholic nation, should not allow same-sex marriages and respect what they view as traditional family values. but other organizations disagree. (BosNewsLife NEWS WATCH is a regular look at key news developments impacting the Church and/or compassionate proffesionals. As Hungary is the base of BosNewsLife, it also focuses on key developments in former Communist nations. Part of this BosNewsLife News story also airs on the Voice of America (VOA) network. www.voanews.com).
