On the Erzsébet Bridge, a handful of anti-Pride demonstrators tore down rainbow flags that had been hoisted at the behest of Budapest’s liberal mayor, Gergely Karácsony, and flung them into the Danube. The brief act of vandalism, witnessed by a few onlookers, was a stark counterpoint to the multicoloured tide that had just crossed the same bridge: tens of thousands of people marching in the 31st Budapest Pride, the first since the electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán.

The march set out from the Opera House in temperatures that touched 38°C, part of a record-breaking heatwave gripping much of Europe. Organisers distributed water bottles and the city’s public utility opened fountains along the route. Participants, many carrying huge rainbow and European Union flags, danced to music as they wound through the city centre. The crowd was smaller than the 200,000-strong protest of the previous year, when Orbán’s government had banned the event and the march became an act of mass civil disobedience. This time, the police had authorised the gathering, and the atmosphere, according to several attendees, felt less like a confrontation and more like a celebration.

The change in tone follows the April election victory of Péter Magyar’s centre-right Tisza party, ending 16 years of Orbán’s nationalist rule. During his campaign, Magyar avoided the issue of LGBTQ+ rights, but since taking office he has stated that ‘nobody should be stigmatised because of the way they love’ and that his government would not dictate how Hungarians live. Yet the legal architecture of the Orbán era remains intact: a constitutional amendment still subordinates the right of assembly to the protection of minors, and a 2021 law banning the depiction of homosexuality to those under 18 is still on the books. In April, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the 2021 law violates EU treaties guaranteeing human rights and equality, but the new government has not moved to repeal it. Viewed from Brussels, the decision to allow the march is a significant symbolic shift, but activists note that legislative change has yet to materialise.

For many in the crowd, the mere absence of fear was a novelty. ‘There used to be a lot of tension. But now I see people as being somehow happier, and there are more older people, too,’ said Luca Új, a participant. Others expressed cautious hope. ‘The fact that there’s already a debate in Parliament about whether an orphaned child is better off with a same-sex couple or in an orphanage is a positive sign,’ said Kristóf Györgyi, a first-time marcher from Szeged. Organisers, while welcoming the changed climate, stressed that the real test would be legislative action. ‘The true position of a government comes through legislation, not individual statements,’ said Andrea Angeli, a spokesperson for Budapest Pride. The march ended in Vérmező park, where the parade dissolved into an open-air party. On the bridge, the torn flags were gone, but the river carried no trace of them.