THE BIG FRIGHT IN HUNGARY: 5 Queer Monologues on Being Scapegoated

On Monday, March 17th, Hungary's right-wing Fidesz party proposed a ban on Pride celebrations. The following day, the bill passed, with the justification that Pride events are harmful to children.
The law imposes fines (up to £420/$550) and authorizes police to use facial recognition technology to target attendees. This action follows previous restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights in Hungary, including the abolishment of legal gender recognition for transgender individuals and bans on LGBTQ+ content aimed at minors.
Budapest Pride is a significant event, drawing approximately 40,000 participants. This year marks its 30th anniversary, and organizers are continuing to plan their march on June 28th. I reached out to lesbian and queer people in Hungary for their reactions to this new reality. On March 19th, I received the following testimonies:

ADRIENN: We are all afraid because we don't know the lengths to which they are going to go.

”My trans friend called me crying yesterday. He was afraid that his existence would be made illegal. He graduates high school next year, so he can't leave until then. As a lesbian, when I was with my ex, we literally didn't show any affection in public. We were afraid people would hurt or shout at us. A lot of people who say they've never been to Pride and are heterosexual now want to go because they are mad at the government.

I have never wanted to do something more than go to Pride this year, but I'm also afraid of the facial recognition technology that people are saying the police are going to use.

Fidesz, the party led by Viktor Orbán, is a right-wing, conservative Christian party, so to stay in power they have to divide the nation. They say that gay people are pedophiles and that all of this is for protecting the children. We are all afraid because we don't know the lengths to which they are going to go. They are constantly changing the constitution.

It's still not as bad as it is in Russia, but our prime minister loves Putin and Trump. And with the election next year, they are going all in to divide us and to make the leftists look bad. The police have only used facial recognition software for locating terrorists and criminals. Now, they plan to use it on people attending Pride, ostensibly to fine us, or if we don't pay, send us to jail.

The world is focusing on Trump's actions right now, and not enough people know about what's happening in Hungary.”

ZSÓFIA: Will they decide that my very existence is harmful to children, and therefore I cannot exist?

"It's a very complex issue. It's not just plain homophobia; it's very much a huge political topic. For much of the last 15 years, the main party has controlled more than two-thirds of Parliament. As a result, they can easily push through any legislation they want, and they often do.

They claim to be a Christian conservative party with these kinds of beliefs, but they are just getting more and more radical and far right. Their core beliefs center on family and conservative values. They try to frame it so that they can explain everything with this narrative that it is for the children, for protecting children, protecting families.

They are not trying to protect children, nor are they genuinely Catholic or conservative. They just want to hoard as much money as possible for themselves and for the oligarchs. They stole so much money it's infuriating. Hungary is in a very bad economic state. Inflation is through the roof. Healthcare, school systems, children protection systems, and everything socially - the country is a mess.

The strategy is they have to find someone to blame. For example, when there was this huge refugee crisis, they blamed refugees, they blamed Brussels, and then they blamed COVID, and then they blamed the Ukrainian war. They have to have enemies at all times. And now, sadly, this enemy is the LGBTQ community, and that's partly why they are targeting the LGBTQ community. And they are framing it in such a narrative that they are doing this to protect children.

It started in 2021 when they made a law stating that you cannot expose children to content that promotes homosexuality or gender transitioning. You cannot expose them to such content. You cannot show them those kinds of films or series without an 18 and above tag. You have to put the books in foil so they cannot open them. You cannot put such books in bookstores that are close to a school or close to a church. They wanted to ban Pride because you cannot organize any events that promote homosexuality and expose it to children because according to them it's harmful for children. That's what they are saying.

Again, it's not defined what it means to promote or expose children to such content, so... basically, no one really knows what's going on. It is very sad because obviously it's all a lie. They are using this to distract people from the bigger problems that are actually problems. They give people a bone to chew on. It is infuriating because obviously we are people, we are human, we are not a bone to chew on, but they do it so they can divert the attention somewhere. They can blame someone. It's basically fascism.

The elections in Hungary are coming nearer, and they fear that they are losing power because a lot of people are not happy about what is happening. They are not happy that we are moving further away from democracy. People don’t like that we are moving towards Russia and Trump and all of this fascist nonsense. I don't think they have any special hatred or something towards the LGBTQ community. They're just using it for their benefits.

It's very frightening to be honest, because, it shows that they can just push through with everything, what they want. It doesn't matter what it is. They can just push through. If they want something, they are getting it, even if something is basically against the constitution.

And that is frightening because you know, what's next? Will they decide that my very existence is harmful to children, and therefore I cannot exist? Are they going to take away children from their parents? I don't know. And it's also infuriating that there is just no good reason for this. It's all just for their benefit. It's painful to feel used in a way that divides society and causes more and more hatred... and it works… it really works. The most frightening thing is that they can do this without any consequences.

I mean, we saw how this started and ended in World War II, in Rwanda, in all the places in the world. And it is just frightening to be living it. But still, I have hope.”

NORI: Everyone is devastated because they want to eliminate us. They don't want us to be visible in public spaces.

”Although they've "banned" Pride, as a fundamental right, they can't truly take it from us. The bill they passed is ostensibly for child protection. They are trying to conflate being gay or LGBTQ+ with child abuse or pedophilia, which is utterly disgusting. Basically, if I or anyone participates in Pride – which we of course will – the police have the right to ask for your ID and fine you. The fine is up to five or seven hundred euros, I believe, which is a significant amount.

They claim they'll only spend this money on child protection services, which is complete nonsense. Everyone is devastated because they want to eliminate us and erase our visibility in public spaces. In Budapest, while it's not a huge European city, we still have Pride with around 40,000 people. So, it is a huge event, and they won't take it from us.

This bill came into effect today. It was proposed two days ago, voted through yesterday and implemented today, highlighting how quickly this happened. They're so determined to eliminate us, and it's sickening that they're using child protection as a false justification. I'm sorry I can't elaborate more because it's all very new to us. We're feeling very overwhelmed.”

E: Their narrative paints queer people as something children should fear and need protection from.

"I feel desperate. Nothing we do seems to have any effect. They just chip away at our rights. I just want to leave this country.

They've brainwashed the Hungarian people. The government, especially Orbán, wants to protect us from becoming "Western liberal droids." You know, the way their party works, there's always a big enemy. It was immigrants, especially those fleeing the Middle East, from political situations there. Then, they had another scapegoat: George Soros. Then they started zeroing in on the queer community. The more we resist, the harder they retaliate.

A few years ago, as part of a larger legislative package, they passed a law preventing trans people from changing their gender on IDs and documents. Their birth-assigned gender must remain on their paperwork. It was sneakily pushed through, as was this law: they came up with the idea Monday morning and voted on and accepted it on Tuesday, making it law by Wednesday.

If you've been to Hungary recently, the first thing you see at the airport is  heterosexual Family-Friendly Hungary. Their narrative paints queer people as something children should fear and need protection from. It fits the Russian narrative, Trump's narrative, all those populist, conservative bigots' narratives, and Orbán just lined up with that.

I identified as bisexual for years, and just recently came out as a lesbian. I can't imagine living in a country where same-sex marriage isn't legal and I can't hold my partner's hand in public. It has always been a sore spot for me. Now that I can only see my future with another woman, I can't see myself living somewhere where showing affection could make me, my partner, and my family a target. Unfortunately, we've seen in my own family before, that if you don't agree with the government, that can kick you in the ass.

A family member of mine was threatened by a person with ties to Fidesz, who said they would ensure he lost his job simply because he wasn't a Fidesz supporter. Fortunately, nothing more than threats occurred. However, we have witnessed similar events on a larger scale, such as companies and businesses failing due to a lack of cooperation with individuals affiliated with Fidesz.

It is scary and confusing. I think there are lots of people like me in Hungary that feel like there is not much hope. But we try to keep up the fight regardless, even if at times it feels pointless. I can't blame anyone who has given up. I'm thinking more and more about leaving the country. It’s not easy here if you're a woman. Our political leaders increasingly view women as nothing more than childbirthing machines. Then add being queer to that..."

DORA: This homophobia is definitely textbook distraction stuff; they need a scapegoat to distract from rising prices, low salaries, and corruption. They just need an enemy, and the LGBTQ community has been it for the past 15 years.

"I'm bisexual, and I've lived in London for about five, six years now. I knew I was bi before I knew the word for it. I dated girls in Hungary when I was younger. Now I am in an open relationship with someone who identifies as a man, and I go out with girls sometimes. It's great!

I was born in Debrecen, the second-largest city in Hungary. I had a bilingual education, went to university there, and lived in a liberal bubble, making many international friends. I was always going to travel; now I feel like I fled. People struggle to call themselves either an immigrant or an expat. I prefer to say I'm a defector.

I left because the government banned the Master's and PhD programs I wanted to pursue in English. This included the ban on gender studies in 2018, completely destroying my plans to become a university professor.

I've experienced some really weird things in Hungary that stand out: my high school teacher ranting about the sanctity of marriage, neo-Nazis breaking through the barriers at my first Pride, my entire workplace enduring two years of wildly homophobic behavior without repercussions (this is completely normalized there), my university director telling us we ought to see a doctor when we wanted to make a Pride Month movie day.

But then there's highlights: I really enjoyed defending my thesis on LGBTQ representation in historical fiction, and being that out friend to reassure lots of people I knew in the closet. I love my beautiful, colorful, crazy, amazing friends here in London.

However, they don't fully understand my experience of being queer. I feel like I'm always choosing in what way I'll be a second-class citizen: at home in Hungary as a member of the LGBTQ community, or elsewhere as an immigrant. They don't get that I don't take our freedoms and rights for granted, but I also don't want to bring it up too much because I admire their ignorance.

In Hungary, marriage is a union between a woman and a man, so we don’t have same-sex marriage. There's a single civil union that exists, but it doesn't have the same rights as marriage. Weirdly, if a same-sex couple gets married outside Hungary, it's not recognized within Hungary.  They banned single-parent adoption quite recently to close a loophole where same-sex parents could be the legal guardian of their non-biological child. That means that even straight people who are not married cannot adopt a child right now. It's insane! Then, of course, they are censoring the free media, so the brainwashing is going on.

The hate towards queer people comes from the government. That's not to say that Hungarians, in general, are super liberal, historically. Obviously, they were always occupied and were part of the former Eastern bloc, but it earned the nickname of being the most "liberal barrack." Therefore, it is strange that Hungary, in comparison to the rest of Europe, is one of the conservative bits, the Texas of the EU. This homophobia is definitely textbook distraction stuff; they need a scapegoat to distract from rising prices, low salaries, and corruption. They just need an enemy, and the LGBTQ community has been it for the past 15 years.

I haven't been home in like five years. Last time was during the pandemic to see my grandma, I had a panic attack on the plane. I'm very low contact with my parents. Seven years ago I did come out to my sister in a letter because she was buddies with some wildly homophobic work friends. At least be aware that your sister is bisexual, so now you know. Honestly, I can count on one hand the number of times that my sister has spoken to me since. We're no contact, which is really sad.

I'm not surprised they've banned Pride. I thought it was bound to happen when they introduced this "child protection" law in 2021, which basically bans the "promotion" of homosexuality in the same section of the constitution as laws against paedophilia. So I'm not surprised, but I'm still sitting here in a state of gay rage. I am not sure what to do.”

Transcribed and edited by Gry Ellebjerg
Photo: Gry Ellebjerg