Two dads, Hungarian restaurateur Hubert Hlatky Schlichter and his neurosurgeon husband Laszlo Szegedi, kiss their daughter Hannabelle – a picture of happiness and hope against the backdrop of lush nature. It is the new cover of the Hungarian fashion magazine Elle, which wanted it to “contribute to the acceptance of rainbow families” and carry out “a campaign throughout the country for love and all forms of family”. Every child “deserves to grow up in a safe, caring and supportive environment and no one can prevent this based on their parents’ gender identity or sexual orientation,” reads the magazine’s official social media account.
A photo that is not only beauty, but also a challenge. In Hungary, in fact, Viktor Orbán’s party, Fidesz, has been implementing policies against the LGBTQIA+ community since 2010. In 2020, reports Gay.it, «Hungary banned transgender, non-binary and intersex people from legally changing their gender, effectively deleting them. In 2021, the Hungarian government passed a law banning the discussion of LGBTQ+ topics in schools or in the media, in “defense of minors”. Law strongly contested by the European Union. For two years, books that talk about the LGBTQ+ community must be wrapped in aluminum foil. Two months ago a bookshop was fined around £27,800 for failing to cover a copy of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel Heartstopper.
The Hungarian democratic fragility
The Magyar nation experienced a true democratic interlude only in October 1989. First a series of authoritarian regimes made homophobia and intolerance their trademarks. Between October 1944 and April 1945 a military coup, favored by the Nazis led by Otto Skorzeny – the liberator of Mussolini from Gran Sasso – brought the far-right regime of the Arrow Crosses to government. Jews, homosexuals, Roma and opponents were captured, tortured in “houses of terror” and literally made to disappear. A fatal period in the history of Hungary now forgotten, but a warning for the present.
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