Hungary Gay and LGBTQ Activists Protest Latest Anti-LGBTQ Law with 30-Foot Rainbow Heart

Hungary Gay and LGBTQ Activists Protest Latest Anti-LGBTQ Law with 30-Foot Rainbow Heart

Hungary gay and LGBTQ advocates staged a 30-foot high protest across from the nation’s parliament on Thursday, filling the landscape with a 10-meter heart displaying the Progress Pride flag on the same day the country’s latest anti-LGTQ legislation went into effect.

Organized by Hatter Society, Hungary’s largest LGBTQ activist organization, the action was the first in what was described as a continued civil disobedience campaign against the Hungarian government’s efforts to criminalize and dehumanize LGBTQ people under Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

“We think that the only path we can pursue is civil disobedience, and we will not change anything about our activities,” Hatter Society spokesperson Luca Dudits told the Associated Press. Advocacy group Amnesty International Hungary participated in Thursday’s demonstration as well, stating, “We protest at Hungary’s Parliament and stand with the 100,000 LGBTQ youth who will face the terrible consequences.”

NOW: The -phobic law enters into force today,
we protest at #Hungary’s Parliament and stand with the 100,000 #LGBTQ youth who will face the terrible consequences. Survey shows: majority of are against the law and stand for equality! @hattertarsasag @AmnestyHungary pic.twitter.com/oSaY9oQQhg

— Amnesty Hungary (@AmnestyHungary) July 8, 2021

The law that went into effect Thursday outlaws showing content depicting homosexuality or trans identities to minors. It also requires government approval for an organization to hold an educational program discussing sexual orientation in Hungarian schools. “[The law] stigmatizes LGBTQ people and actually puts LGBTQ youth more … in danger of bullying and harassment in schools and in their families as well,” Dudits said.

European Union officials continued their decrying of the homophobic and transphobic law in the leadup to its enacting Thursday. EU executive Commission head Ursula von der Leyen called the law a”disgrace” in a speech to the European Parliament Wednesday, stating, “This legislation uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.”

The EU adopted a resolution Thursday condemning Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ legislation “in the strongest possible terms” for its “intentional and premeditated example of the gradual dismantling of fundamental rights in Hungary.”

Amnesty International Hungary director David Vig lauded the EU’s support for their fight. “We expect EU institutions to act firmly and the European Commission to start an infringement procedure,” Vig told the Associated Press. “This is in clear contradiction not just with EU values, but also with binding EU law and the commission’s LGBTQ strategy.”

Hungary Gay: Previously on Towleroad

Hungary Gay and LGBTQ Activists Protest Latest Anti-LGBTQ Law with 30-Foot Rainbow Heart

Read More

Dutch Prime Minister Tells Hungary’s Orban to Respect LGBT rights or leave EU

Read More

League Forbids Rainbow-lit Munich Stadium For Hungary Match to Protest Anti-Gay Laws. So Fans, Other Stadiums Put Rainbows Everywhere

Read More

Hungary LGBTQ Crisis: Leader Has Wiped Out Marriage, Adoption, Gender Rights; Now, Ties to Paedophilia, ‘Morally There is No Difference’

Read More

Hungary Bans Same-Sex Adoption, Passes Constitutional Amendment Defining ‘Family’ as ‘Man-Woman Marriage’ Days After Lawmaker is Busted in 25-Person Gay Orgy

Read More

Anti-LGBTQ Hungarian Lawmaker Resigns After Getting Busted at COVID Lockdown Orgy in Gay Nightclub

Read More