The gay community in Hungary regretted Monday, October 5 to have become a "
scapegoat
" for Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who had previously asked him to "
leave (the) children alone
" following the publication of a rewarding children's book homosexuality.
Read also: Migrants: in Hungary, a right of asylum undermined by Orban
"
Hungary has laws on homosexuality which are based on an exceptionally tolerant and patient approach,
" the sovereignist leader said in an interview on public radio on Sunday.
“
But there is a red line not to be crossed,
” continued Viktor Orban, criticizing an “
act of provocation
”.
“
To sum up my opinion: leave our children alone
”.
He was interviewed about a collection of tales and legends recently revisited by an association of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community, in which Cinderella, for example, became a lesbian and a transgender dragon slayer.
Other marginalized minorities are also represented there (disabled, poor, Roma, etc.).
"Scapegoat"
"
Now that the fear of migrants or the pandemic is no longer enough to mobilize voters, it is the LGBTQI community that the power designates as scapegoat
", lamented to AFP Tamas Dombos, member of the board of directors of Hatter Society, Hungary's leading gay association.
"
The state media regularly refer to homosexuality as a disease, government officials have never condemned attacks on LGBTQI people, and the police do not provide adequate protection,
" Tamas said.
Dombos.
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A spontaneous movement of civil society demanded the withdrawal of the book and an elected far-right tore up a copy at a press conference.
The association of booksellers and publishers condemned these reactions, comparing them to the attitude of "
Nazi and Communist
"
censors
.
Prohibition of registration of the change of sex in civil status
Returned to power in 2010, the Hungarian Prime Minister established a conservative era in a country that wanted to be rather avant-garde: homosexuality had been decriminalized there from the beginning of the 1960s and the civil union between spouses of the same sex recognized from 1996. Viktor Orban promised in 2018 the establishment of a
cultural
“
new era
” aimed at defending Christian and traditional values.
Hungary, a member of the European Union since 2004, withdrew their official accreditation to gender studies, an interdisciplinary field of research on social relations between the sexes.
Last May, Budapest also banned the registration of the change of sex in the civil status, despite numerous international protests.
In September 2018, the European Parliament activated a procedure under Article 7 of the Treaty on the Union for violation of EU values, in particular concerning violations of fundamental rights, which can in theory lead to sanctions.
