LGBTQ+

David Vig, Amnesty International’s Hungary Director, told the Associated Press, “Unlike Pride marches in more happy countries of the world, this is really a human rights demonstration.” 

According to Euronews, 5,000 people gathered at Városliget Park in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, on 15^th July this year to celebrate Pride. Hungarians, international diplomats and tourists marched the streets cheerfully, whilst waving rainbow flags, activist signs and colourful umbrellas. However, this parade did not just function as a fun and celebratory LGBTQ+ event, it also purposed as a deeper rebellious symbolism against the government’s repressive laws. 

The Hungarian government had administered its “child protection law” in 2021. This law essentially censors distribution of any media that “promotes or portrays a divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality” to minors. It also forbids the mention of LGBTQ+ education in schools as well as banning transgender or intersex people from legally changing their gender. Moreover, Prime Minister Viktor Orban is using this law as a means to stigmatize LGBT people by conflating them with paedophilia. The EU, as well as much of the liberal population in Hungary, was openly critical of these legislations when they came into force in 2020-21.

The European Commission challenged these laws in late 2022 through the European Court of Justice and tried to reverse some of the legislation. However in response to this, the conservative government enabled the law further by imposing stronger restrictions. The government has forced all books that includes LGBT characters to be wrapped up to prevent children or young adults from opening them. According to the Guardian, on 13^th of July this year a bookstore chain in Hungary, ‘Lira’, was fined the equivalent of £27,000 for including the LGBT novel “Heartstopper” by Alice Oseman in the youth section without closed packaging. Other bookstores in the past have been persecuted for similar reasons and now many are unsure whether to comply or face financial penalties themselves. 

According to the Associated Press, on the 14^th of July, the signatory embassies of 38 countries and over 10 cultural organisations pressed Hungary’s government to retract these discriminatory laws as they are harmful to the minority community’s rights. This was a step in the right direction to have so many countries take an official stance on the side of the LGBTQ+ community and against the Hungarian government.

Deutsche Welle reports that TV broadcasting of the actual pride event on the 15^th unfortunately faced its own set of restrictions. Media authorities had banned broadcasts apart from 10pm to 5am to deter minors under the age of 18 from watching it. Many channels feared potential repercussions from the government and avoided telecasting it at all.

Hungarians from the LGBTQ+ community rightfully believe that these laws restrict their rights for freedom of expression and freedom of speech. Moreover the erasure of LGBTQ+ presence for young people will ultimately provoke fear and anxiety in queer teenagers as well as stir up a rise of homophobia and transphobia among the coming generations. 

Homosexual, transgender and queer individuals’ have a fundamental right to exist as they are. You can help prevent further violations to this basic right by signing the petition below:

https://campaigns.allout.org/hungary-propaganda-law