The crowd was not as big as last week in Budapest, but the fact that hundreds of Dutch people gathered this afternoon to protest against a law in a country 1400 kilometers from here is good for Hungarian Szonja Zsiros. “That so many people feel the need to show their solidarity makes me happy.”
The new law against which the protest at the Homomonument in Amsterdam was directed, regulates a ban on “gay promotion”, according to Prime Minister Victor Orbán. This concerns, for example, books and films with a homosexual character. Teachers are no longer allowed to discuss homosexuality with their students. The goal, according to Orbán, is “to protect young people from information about homosexuality and gender reassignment”.
In Hungary itself and elsewhere in Europe, the law sparked outrage. The law is aimed directly at LGBT people, critics say. “The possibility of seeing images or texts in which LGBT people are represented is being taken away,” says Szonja, who is a homosexual herself. “Anyone who belongs to this community will feel completely alone.”
“Hungary is turning the clock back years, centuries.” Activists, politicians and LGBT people spoke out against the law in Amsterdam:
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‘They start with one scapegoat, but soon others follow’
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Szonja studies in the Netherlands but still has family and friends in Hungary. Under Orbán, her country has gone in the wrong direction in recent years, she believes. “The government is doing everything in their power to gain more power and control. The resource they are using is the LGBTI community. That is a very easy subject in Hungary, which is still quite traditional, to engage their following. increase.”
The Hungarian government denies that the gay community is the target of the law. Adults should not be limited in being allowed to decide for themselves “how they organize their lives”.
Nonsense, says Szonja. If children are no longer allowed to learn about homosexuality, this can have dire consequences. “I’m afraid of the next generation of LGBT people. I’m worried about their well-being, their mental health. If they can’t see that what they’re going through is completely normal, then I really fear that the suicide rate among young people will increase.”
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If Hungary wants to limit the rights of others, it should not have the benefits of EU membership.
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Szonja traveled back to her home country to join the protest from last Monday. “It was very impressive to see all these young and such different people around me. But I also recognized fear in their eyes as well as despair. These people have no idea how this law will affect their daily lives or that of their loved ones.”
The Hungarian parliament passed the new law on Tuesday. The European Commission, which has recently been able to cut subsidies from governments that do not adhere to European rule of law standards, is now looking at whether it will impose sanctions. “If the EU really stands for something, and that is tolerance and equality, then they should not allow this law to pass,” says Szonja.
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the law today “appalling” and “retarded” and promised to talk to his fellow European leaders about it on Thursday. But many MEPs believe that the leaders and the Commission are not hurrying enough. “The European Commission does not dare to act. How can you make laws about freedom of expression, if Hungary holds such views?”, Sophie in ‘t Veld (D66) told news hour.
Szonja also hopes that the EU will speak out more fiercely and as a whole. “It is very difficult for me to say as a Hungarian citizen with family and friends in that country. But if Hungary wants to limit the rights and lives of others, it should not have the benefits of EU membership.”
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