Brussels Pride returns on Saturday 17 May 2025 under the theme ‘Unite, time to protect our rights‘, as tens of thousands prepare to fill the streets in celebration and protest. Organisers expect around 200,000 people to take part, echoing last year’s attendance. The event caps off Pride Week in the capital of Belgium, which began on 7 May and featured more than 60 cultural and community events highlighting LGBTQIA+ resilience, rights, and diversity.

The Pride parade will begin at 2:30 PM at Mont des Arts / Kunstberg and wind its way through the centre of Brussels. 

This year’s pride carries a sense of urgency, with increasing political pressure and growing threats to LGBTQIA+ rights across Europe. In response, participants are expected to turn out in force—joined by international delegations from countries including Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Italy, where civic space and LGBTQIA+ freedoms are under mounting threat.

EU shows up in force

In a strong show of institutional support, the European Union will be officially represented at Brussels Pride. The European Commission and the European Parliament will join the festivities and demonstrations, reaffirming their commitment to diversity, inclusion, and the rights of LGBTQI+ people inside and outside the EU.

At 1:15 PM, European Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib from Belgium  and Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos from Slovenia (pending confirmation) will visit the Rainbow Village and the European Commission’s ‘Love Tunnel‘ on Avenue de l’Empereur / Keizerslaan, where they will launch an interactive digital game promoting LGBTQI+ rights.

At 2:00 PM, speeches will be delivered from the main stage by high-level officials, including European Parliament Vice-President Sophie Wilmès (MR, ALDE), Commissioners Lahbib and Kos, and politicians from across Europe.

The EU Pride Forum takes to the streets

At 2:15 PM, the parade will set off, featuring a prominent EU float: the ‘EU Pride Forum’. 

Inspired by London’s Speakers’ Corner, this mobile stage will amplify LGBTQI+ voices from across the continent. Activists from Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Serbia, and Belgium will speak from the float’s lectern, sharing testimonies and stories with the crowd and press.

Wilmès, Lahbib, and Kos will address the crowd from the float, which will be accompanied by the distribution of 20,000 EU flags—creating a vivid show of unity and European solidarity.

Ahead of pride: spotlight on civic space

In the lead-up to the parade, the European Parliament will host a high-level event on Friday 16 May, focusing on threats to freedom of assembly for LGBTQIA+ communities across the EU. 

The event, titled ‘Freedom of Assembly at Stake‘, is organised by the Parliament’s LGBTIQ+ Intergroup and will take place at the ZWEIG Building on the Esplanade Solidarność / Solidarnośćplein in Brussels.

A press conference at 12:45 PM will feature LGBTQIA+ activists from Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Italy, alongside EU officials. 

From 2:15 PM to 5:00 PM, two panels will explore shrinking civic space, the abuse of public order laws to suppress dissent, and the EU’s tools to protect fundamental rights. 

Speakers include European Parliament Quaestor Marc Angel (LSAP, S&D) from Luxembourg, MEP Kim Van Sparrentak (GroenLinks, The Greens) from the Netherlands, Commissioner Lahbib (tbc), and representatives from ILGA-Europe, Forbidden Colours, Amnesty International, and civil society organisations from across Eastern and Southern Europe.

Security and accessibility

Brussels Police have announced heightened security measures, including the deployment of additional officers and plain-clothes units. They advise visitors to use public transport or bicycles due to traffic disruptions expected in the city centre. 

A Safer Zone on Mont des Arts / Kunstberg will provide medical and psychological support to attendees, reinforcing the organisers’ commitment to making pride a safe and inclusive space for all.

As Brussels prepares for one of Europe’s largest pride events, the message is clear: celebration and solidarity go hand in hand with political advocacy. In the face of rising threats, Brussels Pride 2025 stands as both a joyful gathering and a powerful call to action.

UPDATE | “No One Left Behind”? Hadja Lahbib has already left Hungary behind

“Today, as the European Commission flies the pride flag in front of the Berlaymont Building and celebrates International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT or IDAHOBIT) with symbolic declarations, LGBTIQ+ organisations are calling time on the charade.” 

Forbidden Colours denounces the Commission’s failure to respond to the Hungarian government’s escalating attacks on LGBTIQ+ rights — including its recent ban on pride in the whole country, a direct violation of the freedom of assembly enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

“In Commissioner Lahbib’s own words today: ‘We won’t be silent. We won’t leave anyone behind.’ And yet, Hungary has already been left behind”, said Vincent Reillon, Senior Advocacy Officer at Forbidden Colours. 

“Pride is not just a party — it’s a right. And when that right is crushed by a Member State, the Commission’s job is to act. Not to post.”

In 2021, the Commission launched legal action against Hungary’s so-called ‘anti-LGBT propaganda’ law — but since then, progress has stalled. 

Now, Hungary has banned pride, and still no infringement procedure has been launched. The Commission’s silence sends a chilling message: fundamental rights can be violated without consequence.

Symbolism is not protection

While the Commission praises its ‘LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy‘ it continues to rely on tools that are politically blocked, voluntary, or symbolic — instead of using the legal powers it already has:

• Infringement procedures to challenge violations of EU law.
• Interim measures to suspend harmful national laws.
• Funding conditionality to cut support for governments dismantling rights

Yet none of these tools have been deployed against Hungary’s pride ban.

“The Commission’s job is not to ‘Stand With Us’, it’s to protect us”

“Raising a rainbow flag while refusing to defend our rights is pinkwashing at its most dangerous”, said Rémy Bonny, Executive Director of Forbidden Colours. 

“We need a Commission that fights for us, not one that hides behind hashtags.”

Enough silence, it’s time to act

This IDAHOBIT, Forbidden Colours urges the European Commission to stop pretending and start protecting. 

If it wants to build a “safer, more inclusive EU”, it must enforce the Treaties, which means do its job. Because this is no longer about promoting inclusion — it’s about defending democracy.

“Hungary is the test. And the European Commission is failing it”, Bonny said. 

The latest on LGBTQIA+ events such as prides in Belgium

• Pride Express links Ghent, Brussels and Antwerp to Pride Amsterdam on Saturday 2 August 2025.
• BRUSSELS PRIDE 2025 | Saturday 17 May Pride March parade starts at Mont des Arts / Kunstberg at 2:30 PM.
• Leuven Pride 2025 on Saturday 27 September.
• ANTWERP PRIDE 2025 THEME | Do Not Just March.
• Darklands organiser calls out unnecessary rules other events aren’t subjected to.
• Queer March Ghent 2025 from 1 to 31 March.
• Limburg Pride composes anthem for first edition.
• BRUSSELS | International collective launches Pride Museum, seeks location.
• Belgium to host Eurovision Song Contest 2026? But in which city?.
• PinX LGBTQIA+ Film Festival in Ghent and in Antwerp from 29 January to 2 February 2025.
• Antwerp Queer Arts Festival broadens horizon to Bruges and Leuven.
• ANTWERP 2025-2030 | City government agreement supports bid for EuroGames in Antwerp in 2028.
• Liège Pride 2025 on Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August.
• CHARLEROI PRIDE | Three days of inclusivity and festivities.
• Antwerp Queer Arts Festival from 3 to 31 August 2024: programme.