A lawmaker from Hungary's opposition Fidesz Party called police on Friday to ban a Gay Pride parade scheduled for next week in Budapest, triggering an international reprimand, local wire service MTI reported.

Ilona Ekes, a member of the parliament's human rights, minorities and religious affairs committee, said the parade, in which about 2,000 people are expected to take part, could create fear and revulsion in the public and endanger the development of minors.

She called for social and professional dialogue on homosexuality, which she called a "mental injury."

Fidesz is currently Hungary's most popular party and expected to easily win parliamentary elections next year. Bertalan Havasi, the party's media chief, said that Ekes had only voiced a personal opinion on which he had no comment.

Meanwhile, 13 foreign embassies issued a statement on Friday of support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community of Hungary, in a cultural week of films and other events beginning on Sunday and culminating in the Sept. 5 parade.
The joint statement issued by the embassies of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States voiced support for the right of the gay community to hold the parade.

Police have indicated they will prevent counter-demonstrators from approaching the marchers, after rocks, fecal matter and eggs were thrown at paraders at a similar event in 2008.