IDAHO -- stand up against homophobia and transphobia!

Yepp, 17 of May is the IDAHO -- nah, not that one, it's a different one. Symbolic date? Exactly. May 17 was chosen as the day of the event because homosexuality was removed from the International Classification of Diseases of the World Health Organization on May 17, 1990. Since then, there are several examples of the diversity of approaches and actions that organisations engage in. One thing is common: those who participate think that it is an opportunity to raise your voice, send a message and fight for human rights -- a never-ending struggle? Arising from prejudice and ignorance, homophobia and transphobia can affect LGBTQ people’s lives in many ways. Every day, members of the LGBTQ community face disapproving comments, verbal attacks, hate speech, and physical violence, simply because their gender identity and/or sexual orientation is not what is accepted by the mainstream society. What's more in case of Hungary -- declarations of homophobia and transphobia can be heard even in the Parliament. And at this rate, Budapest Police’s practice of banning the pride march every year will soon become a Hungarian national tradition... nice.

Let's see how we celebrated IDAHO in Budapest! Organized by a couple of NGOs (including Budapest Pride, Amnesty International Hungary, Háttér Support Society for LGBT People, Labrisz Lesbian Association, the Hungarian LGBT Alliance and TransVanilla Transgender Association) the event took place at Deák tér from 4 pm and there were numerous programs. You can read the official press realease partly written by me (link here), you know I am one of the organizers of the Budapest Pride. What you could choose: support the Budapest Pride March with a video message, make sidewalk art with us, sign the Baltic Pride petition of the Amnesty International or join a discussion about transphobia held in Café Vis Major. The key is to say NO somehow.

I could not attend the discussion, but I spent two hours at Deák tér by interviewing strangers what they think about the pride march in general, if they plan to attend this year's etc. We recorded a number of speakers for this video of support. Besides one extreme homophobe guy, all the answers were relevant and instructive ...and I have to tell you my favorite one: I asked a middle-aged women who took her kids why she thought it was important to attend the event -- and what she replied was soooo encouraging -- she said that she wanted her children to be raised in a society in which same-sex couples were just as usual as hetero ones. Lovely!

St. Petersburg's propaganda law in reality

I have already written a couple of posts about what is going on in St. Petersburg and what this propaganda law is about. Well, it did come into force and now we have the first guy (a hardcore lgbtq campaigner) to be convicted of ‘gay propaganda’. 

According to the report of the AP, Nikolai Alekseev was said to have been fined 5,000 roubles, just over £100, by a court in Russia’s second city for the promotion of homosexuality among minors... So, what did he do? As the news and the article by PinkNews (link here) highlight, Alekseev had held up a sign reading “Homosexuality is not a perversion” outside the Smolny Institute in April in public view. Shame on him, nah?! 

On the Spot in Egypt - Amnesty International Women's Group

As you may know, I am one of the founders of the Women's Group at the Amnesty International Hungary. We already arranged and participated in some events dealing with human rights issues, especially about women's rights. (for example the cookie action on women's day -- if you don't remember, you can read back, link here). So, while Amnesty is famous for lobbying, we regularly organize events which obviously have awareness raising campaigns, but we also want to "entertain". Ok, this is not the expression I was looking for, but the aim is to show an aspect of a certain country, territory or a specific case. We want to involve, invite, inform etc.

Last Wednesday we organized an event dealing with Egypt. The title "Denial and Repression" refers to the actual situation of women. The event itself was organized at Fogasház (oh yeah, I'm in love with ruin bars so it is not that surprising that I wanted to have it there). Program: film screening with a talk afterwards.

So, Egypt. On the Spot. What's this? It is is a documentary run by two young Hungarian people in her twenties, Cseke Eszter and S. Takács Andris. We invited Eszter to tell about her personal experience and to give us a broader picture of what the life is like there. The Egyptian episode was shot a year ago when a series of civil demonstrations took place against the Mubarak regime -- millions of protesters from various social, economic or even religious background demanded the overthrow of the regime... but since then, the life of an everyday men has not changed much. 

The audience was larger than we expected (at least larger than I expected...), approximately 60-70 people attended and they were pretty much curious, asked a lot of questions, so it was a nice surprise (for me). And of course, who does not like watching a movie and talking about human rights issues while drinking beer at a ruin bar? :)

PFLAG in short

In case if you don't exactly know the abbreviation PFLAG: parents and friends of gay & lesbian. (Yepp, it lacks a couple of letters T, B, Q, whatever... but only in its name, to tell their defense.) It is a community with a couple hundred thousand members. Actually, it is not only a community but a non-profit organization. 

What do they do? As you may probably see in the picture, they celebrate the diversity since they envisioned a society in which dignity, civil and legal equality are all fundamental factors -- a society that embraces everyone, including those of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Celebrate, support, whatnot in order to create a safe world (yepp, safe!) in which young people can grow up and be educated with freedom from any form of discrimination, fear of violence.

Not surprisingly, PFLAG is quite popular in the US, whereas it is a relatively "new" thing in Europe, especially in Eastern Europe. However, the goal is (of course) to reach everyone in the world so that a society - that is first of all healthy, and second of all respectful towards human diversity - can really be formed.

Budapest Pride March is ON!!!

Pride march is on -- surprisingly... or NOT. Last Friday, the court of Budapest has reportedly overruled the police’s decision not to grant a license for this year's pride march. Hurrah, the right to assembly (as a fundamental right) is still acknowledged -- the court said and ensured that the police had no legal grounds on which to deny the application. I still can not believe that we (as organizers) had to undergo exactly the same procedure as last year (as the police tried to block the march in 2011 as well...)

What can I say? Nice try? No... it is such a shame that such things can happen (and does happen) in this country. The police argued that it would be impossible to maintain the free flow of traffic, however we all know that it is only about a political decision. Discrimination? Exactly. Are we going to take further actions? YES!! With the help of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, we are going to take further legal actions against the police department, you can read our press release about this (link here).

I do not think that this is a victory of the lgbtq community since it is a fundamental human right. A fundamental right that has to be acknowledged all the time. I want to live in a country in which a person or group is not treated unfavorably on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity... as you already know, I am "just" an anxious hetero citizen, but I have to admit that it is so hard to be gay in Hungary. (sorry for writing gay, I hate that expression...) You can say that I am an outsider, but I disagree. Not because I'm one of the organizers but because the violation of basic rights (to be free from discrimination) is what affects everyone... as an activist, I fight for equal treatment which definitely should be the basis of the society. This is what I believe in, this is the basic principle of my life -- I don't know if I can change the world but at least I can try.

Society fails

Good perspective... and so true.

...about the proposals submitted by the Hungarian far-right party

"We will not stand by!" -- the title itself refers to our answer -- what the hell is going on in this country? 

We (as organizers of Budapest Pride) have just published our statement about the proposals submitted by Jobbik which is the far-right party in Hungary. (link here)

Two days ago, on April 10, Jobbik representative Mirkóczki Ádám submitted a law proposal and two proposed amendments to the new constitution of Hungary that would, if accepted, amend the media law, the criminal code, advertising laws, and the constitution to make the very existence of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people in Hungary criminal and unlivable. Just to highlight the irony in it: Mirkóczki is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Minority, Civic, and Religious Affairs. WTF?!

So, what do all these things mean? Mirkóczki’s amendment of advertising laws would ban any ad that “portrays sexual disorders, especially sexual relationships between members of the same sex, as socially acceptable models to follow.” According to his recommendations, the constitution would guarantee the right of peaceful assembly to everyone except lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people; this would include banning the Budapest Pride march. Furthermore, it would impose fines on LGBTQ people for holding hands or kissing in public.

Well, ok radicalism, homophobia, fascism etc are fundamental factors when talking about a party like Jobbik, but I still can not believe that such proposals can be submitted in the 21st century... Seems that some Hungarian politicians not only 'supported' the propaganda law (I wrote some blog posts about that, link here) -- but based on that, they had new ideas. Congrats. As a straight supporter of the community I am deeply disappointed that this is happening in Hungary. Shame on us!!

What we reacted:

As the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and straight organizers of the Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival,

• We are OUTRAGED by Jobbik’s fascistic viewpoint, which Ádám Mirkóczki represents;

• We REFUSE to allow these attempts to restrict our fundamental freedoms and make our everyday lives and basic self-expression impossible;

• We CALL ON on the Hungarian government, the Hungarian prime minister, the parties in Parliament, the minister of Parliament, and the president of the republic to reject the viewpoint represented in the proposed amendment, and to make it clear that there is absolutely no room for such an amendment in Hungary in 2012;

• We DEMAND that the soon-to-be-created committee on ethics that would punish representatives for expressions of racism, antisemitism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia stand up against homophobia and transphobia as well!

SILENCE IS COMPLICITY. We ask everyone who rejects Jobbik’s proposed amendment to speak out in protest.

We welcome all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and straight supporters to this year’s Budapest Pride march on July 7!