Hungary prohibits Pride with a law, Gabriele Piazzoni di Arcigay: “You are trying to normalize the culture of hatred”

In just 24 hours, Hungary approved one law which prohibits the organization of Pride in the country. With 136 votes in favor and 27 against, the Hungarian Parliament has launched an amendment to the right of assembly, specifically prohibiting those that show or promote homosexuality to minors. The deputies of Fidesz, the party led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and those of the Democratic Christian party, which is part of the majority coalition, have lined up. In addition to the ban for these events, the law also gives the police the possibility of using facial recognition cameras to identify those who participate in the events. The expected fine can reach 200 thousand Hungarian florins (about 500 euros).

It is certainly not the first time that the Hungarian premier, in the government for more than ten years, directly attacks the LGBTQIA+community. In fact, the highly contested law is of 2021 for the “Protection of children” Which prohibits the topics related to homosexuality in public contexts in which there are minors, such as school. In the center there is always the bogeyman of the (non -existent) gender ideology, so dear even to several exponents of the current Italian government. The latter Hungarian law against Pride marks another dangerous step towards an increasingly authoritarian government and determined to take a tabula rasa of civil rights within the country. Budapest’s Pride, the thirtieth, is scheduled for June 28. What will happen? What impact will this law have?

We talked about it with Gabriele Piazzoni, Secretary General of Arcigay.

Gabriele Piazzoni, Secretary General of Arcigay

How do you interpret the approval of this law in Hungary?
«It is a direct attack on the fundamental rights of LGBTQIA+people, not only in Hungary, but throughout Europe. It is a worrying sign that demonstrates how there is a concrete attempt to relegate to civil rights conquered with difficulty, an attempt to be the son of a culture that reverberates in every country and that alarms us. There is, not only in Hungary, those who try to limit the freedom of expression, education and self -determination of people: if we think about it, it is not just about LGBTQIA+ people, this compression of freedom concerns all people “.

What do you expect from Europe in this case?
«A strong and clear position and actions to protect LGBTQIA+people, who in countries such as Hungary are the subject of institutional hatred and persecutory practices promoted by governments. The European Union has a duty to intervene against these abuses and to adopt concrete measures to defend human rights: it is important that the European Union does not limit itself to declarations of conviction, but that it acts, by imposing sanctions, blocks of funds and other measures that can induce governments to respect the founding principles of the Union, such as non -discrimination and respect for the rights of all the social groups and identities. It is a very important thing, especially in this particular moment: because if Europe does not defend its deepest values ​​of freedom and democracy no longer has reason to exist, with all due respect to all the rhetoric that has been spent in recent days “.

What impact has a similar law on Europe in general and on our country in particular?
“Reads like the Hungarian one have a devastating impact throughout Europe, because they undermine the principles of equality and fundamental rights that are the basis of the construction of the Union. When a Member State adopts discriminatory policies, he creates a dangerous precedent that could inspire other countries to act in the same way. For Italy, the effect of this Hungarian strait can be twofold: on the one hand the risk of relegation to the rights of LGBTQIA+people increases, on the other, it feeds an atmosphere of hatred and division, in a context in which we have already witnessed an increase in manifestations of violence and intolerance for some time. In short: he is blowing on the fire of hatred and is trying to normalize the culture of hatred, as if it were a legitimate possibility of people but even governments ».

Little is missing at the beginning of Pride in Italy, what is the emotional thrust of this year?
«Pride will be a visible and tangible response to all the injustices and discrimination we are experiencing. In the community there is a lot of anger and unfortunately there is also a lot of fear to circulate, because the criminalization actions of LGBTQIA+ people threaten the serenity of many people: we think of all the debate on the criminalization of the GPA, who landed in the approval of the Varchi law, in which we have even heard a minister invite the doctors to transform into delators who report to the public force the couples who access the PMA. Or we think of the debate on the Careggi hospital and the paths that accompany the minors with gender variance: also in this case the Italian right launched itself in a real witch hunt that has made a lot of hurt to those families and that has put at risk the delicate paths they were crossing. Pride will be an opportunity to say enough: each Pride this year will be a cry of resistance, a demonstration of strength and a request for rights for all LGBTQIA+people ».

What are the sensations that as Arcigay are you collecting in this period in Italy, by the LGBTQIA+community?
«When you are affected so hard on all sides, you undergo the blows and live on oppressed. This creates tension, sometimes even divisions: there are many decisions to be made, very difficult and it happens that they are not all agreed. But there is one thing that unites us inextricably and that we must always keep in mind and it is the reason why we do all this: to guarantee who will come after us a world more just than we lived in. Even in the diversity of opinions, we never question the goodfede of those who travel the road with us. This is why the Pride, with its fifty parades across the country, continues to be the most stronger square manifestation in our country and in many parts of the world “.

Source: Vanity Fair

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