COMING OUT TO This brochure’s aim is to provide you with information about the situation of LGBT people in Hungary. We will begin with delivering some concise back- ground information about the latest Introduction developments concerning the situation of LGBT people in Hungary. Further //Bisexual/ information can be found in the reports (LGBT) people in Hungary experience of the FRA (European Union Agency for on different levels - Fundamental Rights). In the main part mostly through lack of visibility and of the brochure we present our inter- education of the general population view results, subdivided into the per- concerning and un- sonal, social and political dimensions. derstanding. While Ireland and other In the last part you will find additional member states of the European Union information about the panel discussion are increasingly supporting the LGBT on 9th July 2015, like main questions rights movement, Hungary remains and information about our guests. a rather conservative country with a homophobic atmosphere. Our aim is to find out whether there are discernable overlaps or differences between the personal, social and political dimension regarding the discrimination of LGBT people. Let’s Get Beyond Taboos! is an initia- tive started by students of the Freie Universität , who are enrolled in the Eastern European Studies master program with a focus on politics and history of eastern . Team Let‘s Get Beyond Taboos! To gain an overview about the situation Johanna Seeger, Franziska Meyer, Stelian Dumitrache, Carsten Spandau, Nóra Szabó, Maria Dziobek of LGBT-people in Hungary, Lets’s Get Beyond Taboos! visited in Ap- ril 2015 and conducted interviews with members and activists of the LGBT- community, like Szimposión or Háttér Társaság, as well as with representati- ves of politics, science, media and the 2 church. 3 of the European Union prohibits “discri- The clear „Yes“ vote in the Irish referen- mination on grounds of sex [...] or sexual dum on same-sex marriage signalized that Background orientation.” social change can be achieved by partici- pating in campaigns for social justice. In this sense, we aim to remove consisting By signing the Charter as part of its taboos about lesbian, gay, bisexual and Amidst the European progress/ accession to the EU in 2004, the Hunga- transgender people (LGBT), who‘s legal rian state has pledged to unconditionally and social equality can especially be Current developments. comply with that principle. But with the reached by an increased visibility and inauguration of the current Prime Minister representation in society. The UK and Luxembourg passed marriage Viktor Orbán in 2010, further attempts equality laws in 2014 following nine other against discrimination of homosexuals countries in the EU, while Ireland recently came to an abrupt end. In 2013 the pro- became the first country in the world in tection of the family has been expressly which the opening of marriage for homo- limited to heterosexual couples through sexuals was determined by a referendum. a constitutional amendment. The increa- The clear „Yes“ vote in the referendum on sing discrimination against LGBT people the same-sex marriage shows how stron- is being driven primarily by the far-right gly the idea of endowing people from the party . In April 2012 Jobbik introdu- Let‘s Get Beyond Taboos! LGBT community with the same rights is ced two parliamentary bills, according to supported by the electorate. In Dublin which homosexuals making their sexuality and many other cities, the streets were recognizable in public can be punished by filled with people fighting for liberalizati- up to eight years in prison. Furthermore, on and social change – a movement that the bills included a ban on gay bars and has sparked a lively debate in Europe and clubs, meetings and festivals similar to resulted in the legalization of registered the „ Day“ parades, as partnerships in Andorra, Croatia, Estonia well as the positive representation of gays and Malta. and in the media. Such populist Regardless of such liberal developments, rhetoric has had a considerable impact human rights defenders in some countries on the public opinion so that the social such as Hungary signaled developments acceptance for any distinct sexual orien- which risk violating basic human rights. tation has noticeably begun to decline. In accordance with the EU law, the prin- According to a report of the “European ciple of equal treatment is a fundamental Union Agency For Fundamental Rights” value of the European Union, which en- (FRA), respondents in Hungary report the sures both the respect for human dignity highest levels of both same-sex couples and the full and equal participation in avoiding holding hands in public and even economic, cultural and social life. Article avoiding certain locations for fear of being 4 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights assaulted or harassed (81%). 5 accept their own and many felt lost. We heard many stories describing how energized and relieved they felt when they finally met other gay people and Personal Dimension realized that they are not alone. Most of the people had their around the age of 18. Normally they would prefer to tell it to their closest friend first before Family, Friends, Society. they would involve an extended group of friends they trust. Families handle the We posed 11 questions regarding the issue of in different ways. consequences of being gay in Hungary and There are as many “liberal” families as how being gay affects the lives of the peo- “conservative” ones. Nevertheless there is ple on a personal level. Our interest was a generation factor. In general, a decisi- focused on finding out how people who on is made not to tell the grandparents are gay perceive their situation, what ex- that their grandchild is gay, because they periences they had made so far, whether would not accept it. The possibility to Meeting with: Kulka János they feel that they are an accepted part of open up to the own family is crucial. How- society and what, in their opinion, would ever the decision whether to tell everybo- be a good way to further improve the dy in the family or not is often influenced still favored, which is heavily affecting the years, but Hungary remains a very conser- acceptance of gay people in the Hungarian by the fear that the own family could be discourse about the topics of family/mar- vative country. society. stigmatized. Interviewees with a rural riage/adoption of children. There are two groups fighting either for The group of interviewees was compo- background often live a double life and try or against LGBT positions while the vast sed of only who currently live in to keep up appearances when they travel The last group of questions revolved majority of society takes a rather indiffe- Budapest. This fact has to be taken into back home from Budapest. around possibilities to improve the rent stance. There is a consensus that the account when interpreting the answers situation of gay people in Hungary. One best way to tackle the indifference is by given to us during the interview process. Another group of questions aimed at point that has been mentioned a lot was addressing LGBT topics early on in schools, However, the fact that we managed to get finding out how well gay people are integ- education. Most people agreed that it is of increasing the visibility of those topics in interviewees with rather different back- rated into society and how the LGBT com- utmost importance to teach and to inform the public discourse, and improving the grounds, aged between 20 and 50, helped munity is perceived in Hungary. In general pupils as early as possible about LGBT perception of them. us to avoid the danger of getting an overly there is a consensus that Hungary is still topics. The Hungarian educational system biased view on the topic. a very conservative country. LGBT topics is in parts very homophobic. Homopho- „One of the most dangerous things in One group of questions revolved around became more visible in the last years but bia can be found at all levels of educa- Hungary that happens now is that people the way the interviewees perceived the there is still no profound discussion in tion from middle schools to universities. don‘t act because they are afraid of being issue of homosexuality. The answers Hungarian society. Most participants feel Another point mentioned equally often is punished or being rejected...so instead of differed in many ways according to the that they would have to face negative concerning the legal equality of same-sex doing anything they do nothing. It‘s like different backgrounds of the people, consequences if they decided to live out relationships and of homosexuals in ge- a self censoring and that‘s terrible. And but there were common aspects in all their homosexuality. Some of them even neral. The last point stressed the fact that I think it‘s the same situation in the gay answers. Most of the interviewees started come up with elaborated tactics how to LGBT topics have to become more visible community so they hide. One of the most to realize that they are gay around the discuss their during a and that they have to be discussed more important reasons I chose to come out is age of 15. Their perception on the issue of job interview for example. All interview- evenly. Lately negative statements given to show some kind of bravery or to show 6 homosexuality during that age was influ- ees feel pressured by society to live in a by the political leadership of Hungary have that you don‘t have to be afraid.“ 7 enced by the dominant educational view heterosexual relationship. The perception influenced the discussion in a bad way. (János Kulka) that homosexuality is “something bad”. of same-sex couples is improving; never- In conclusion, the answers indicate that This fact often made it hard for them to theless heterosexual relationships are progress was made during the past 15 thermore, the way members of the LGBT For the acceptance of LGBT people in position. Although the influence of the community are depicted in the media public, the personal experience with LGBT church through church services is impor- also depends on the kind of media. State people is also a key factor. Most people tant, the main influence of the church on owned media is quite conservative. Even are indifferent towards the topic of LGBT society seems to be created through the Social Dimension a kiss between two men in the TV soap until come into contact with LGBT people connection between church and state. For “Glee” was cut out on public TV channels. upon which there is a chance of develo- example, a lot of schools are now under New media on the other hand is more ping a more positive attitude towards the the supervision of the church. Although open towards the topic of homosexuality. LGBT topic. the option to choose between ethics and Media, church and public visibility. The coverage is more favorable and re- A key finding of our interviews is that the religion classes in school exists, a lot of gular than in state owned media, but it is church, especially the Catholic Church, pupils participate in religion classes. The With questions regarding the social often influenced by market share aspects. plays an important role regarding the education in those classes is openly homo- dimension we wanted to find out which Transgender people are used for genera- public acceptance of LGBT people. The no- phobic most of the time. role the church in Hungary plays and how ting scandalous headlines and the sexual tion that homosexuality is a sin is heavily people deal with members of the LGBT orientation is a main topic when judging influenced by the churches stance on this community. Furthermore we focused on people. the way how LGBT people are portrayed in the public and in the media. The acceptance of LGBT people in the public seems to be influenced not only by the media. There is also a significant difference in acceptance between the me- tropolitan areas and the more rural parts of Hungary. The aspect of anonymity plays a big part in the way how LGBT people live their public lives. Nevertheless, the visibility of same-sex couples in the public sphere is very low even in the cities. A reason for this is mainly the fear of verbal attacks and humiliation. Physical attacks seem to be the exception, but they occur often enough to influence the behavior of LGBT people. On the other hand, there are places like gay-bars or clubs - often visited by heterosexual people - where free expression of personality and sexual orientation is possible. Special actions of the LGBT-community are mostly ignored in the public, but the Interview with: Urbán Jószef 8 general presence of the topic in the media 9 is increasing. One of the most popular activities is the , which gets extensive coverage in the media. Fur- of society. And it’s a minority question, a Social Dimension minority problem. And you could say, that it’s not so important, because it affects only a small part of society and it’s given too much attention in society and in po- Although many people who call themsel- litical life. But I think, that somehow this ves religious don‘t attend mass regularly, question, which affects a small minority the opinion and statements of the pope of our society, somehow this issue let still have a big influence on public thin- emerge very important issues on society. king. There are more and more dignitaries In church I think that it’s absolutely true. in the Catholic Church who adopt a more If you in the church learn how to accept liberal and inclusive view on LGBT topics, LGBT people not on the way “yes we yet homosexuality still remains a difficult accept these abnormal people and we topic for the Hungarian Catholic Church. are very good Christians to accept them”, One of our interviewees used a metaphor but accept them as that they are part of of language to explain his perception on reality and we are also abnormal, everyo- the isolation of homosexuals. “Homo- ne is abnormal, acceptance should mean Parliament sexuals have their own language, which accepting the abnormality in each of us. I only works in their community and that’s think if the church learns this through the to compensate for a lack of belonging to why these people are isolated and not issue of homosexuality I think, it would be Hungarian society when politics appear understood”. But in his opinion the church an enormous step forward to a better and to be homophobic and unhelpful. Accor- should actively participate in the process more just society.“ Political Dimension ding to the claim that Hungary is going to of trying to include those people in society (Urbán Jószef) provincialize itself within the European by accepting their otherness. Union through illiberal tendencies many The main results of the interviews dealing interview partners acknowledged this with the social dimension show that Agenda, development and Europe. development by mentioning censor- church, media and politics have a high ship of LGBT-friendly content on TV, the influence on the way the society is dealing On the political level we aimed at figu- numerous homophobic statements from with members of the LGBT-community. ring out essential key factors that influ- politicians and the growing gap between ence and explain the political agenda in society and politics regarding the attitude „It’s very interesting to talk about this Hungary dealing with LGBT people and towards LGBT people. The answers given issue because LGBT people are 3 to 10% their rights. Therefore, we focused on the indicate that there is a real danger to the country’s political development within a freedom of expression in Hungary which is European context as well as on the decisi- especially perceived by LGBT people. on making process influenced by different topics like family and marriage.

Some interviews confirmed our assumpti- on that LGBT people in Hungary develop a stronger European identity if they experi- ence discrimination because of their sexu- 10 al orientation. It happens because Europe 11 is associated with open-mindedness and a more liberal attitude and thus represents an alternative for LGBT people who seek commonly shared ideas of what family and marriage mean if gender is not con- sidered. There is agreement between the interviewees that it is about love, long- Political Dimension term monogamous relationships and the presence of at least one child. Referring to the immense diversity of social reality However, opinions on provincialization which always differs from ideals and which were strongly polarized as others empha- was not denied in one single interview, we sized that Hungary is only returning to its see as an overall result that the political Christian roots and Viktor Orbán’s under- definition of family, especially in Hunga- standing of “illiberal democracy” simply ry, is inconsequent. Some argue that full means “conservative”. Furthermore, there rights should only be given to people emb- is a consensus that Budapest will always racing traditional ways of life. But this only keep its special role as a cosmopolitan makes sense if is the metropolis which tends to be a home for keynote. This has to be recognized. people with different sexual orientations and identities. Nevertheless, LGBT people Furthermore, the interviews emphasi- seem to fall behind when national identity ze that sexual diversity should not be meets traditional values. Developing a considered as a private affair. It must be European identity as a means to cope with politically addressed. Otherwise LGBT exclusion at home shouldn‘t be a prefera- people remain invisible in everyday life or ble solution. To raise awareness of LGBT become more and more socially margi- rights in Europe means to improve the nalized because they are perceived as Interview with: Szönyi Szilárd situation of LGBT people in every single inacceptable. We also note that Hungarian European country. One could argue that politicians instrumentalize LGBT issues to every state is different and national iden- gain votes. Of course this is not a unique tities cannot be mutualized. But regarding phenomenon which is only characteris- LGBT rights the EU made a clear commit- tic of Hungary. It happens everywhere ment – Hungary as well. And surprisingly – also in Western Europe – and the case no interview partner responded negatively of Russian anti-LGBT propaganda laws is when asked to describe Hungary’s future still one of the most extreme. Hungary is “If there is no awareness of the discrimination of homosexuals in education, there will social and political development, if LGBT still not as homophobic as Russia on the consequently never be a change. people became socially and politically political level. However, several intervie- A respecting education policy could induce a positive development. And it also takes a wholly accepted so that they could live wees voiced concern about intensifying happy society to achieve more acceptance. In a bad-tempered kind of society minorities their lives freely and self-determined re- ties between the government and the are always in a bad situation. gardless of their sexual orientation. So we Catholic Church which lead to disproporti- Nowadays people in Hungary are in a really bad mood.” tried to understand what precisely triggers onate political influence, especially in the a homophobic development in Hungary. field of education where is (Dr. Bárándy Gergely, MSZP, translated from Hungarian into English) reproduced through politically tolerated By addressing different issues related to disinformation. 12 LGBT community – family, marriage and 13 discrimination – we compared liberal and conservative perspectives in order to support mutual understanding. There are Schiffer András • Politican, Lawyer • Member of Parliament for the LMP Party • President of the LMP Party • Studied politics and law at Loránd- Eötvös-University Budapest

Discussion on 9th July 2015. Ungár Klára Two Main Questions. • Politican, Economist onservative groups insist that, the • Founding member of (left the Ccontext of society is based on national party in 1993) traditions. How far is Hungary lagging be- • Now the President of the SZEMA Party Discussion hind the developments in Ireland, where (Szabad Emberek Magyarországért) Guests on 9th July 2015 modern and traditional views seem to • Studied economics at the Karl Marx converge? University of Economic Sciences (now the Corvinus University of Budapest) any religious people support the Mview, that homosexuality is socially mediated and thus can be „learned“. Ceglédi Zoltán Would you support this thesis? And which • Political analyst role does the Catholic Church then play in propagating homophobic views?

Milanovich Dominika • Sport psychologist • Studied at European Central University • Part of the organization-team of Buda pest Pride • About herself: feminist and participate of a half-marathon

14 15 Impressum:

Verlag: Carsten Spandau Verlag Text: Stelian Dumitrache, Maria Danziger Str. 144 Dziobek, Franziska Meyer, 10407 Berlin Carsten Spandau Bild: Stelian Dumitrache Herausgeber: Carsten Spandau Layout: Jana Sadowski Cavichiolo Druck: Digitaldruckerei esf-print.de, Berlin

V.i.S.d.P.: Stelian Dumitrache, Maria Dziobek, Franziska Meyer, Carsten Spandau