Ungarn gay
Jozsef Szajer: Hungary MEP quits after allegedly fleeing gay orgy
An MEP from Hungary's ruling party, which is hostile to LGBT rights, has quit after he was caught attending what Belgian media describe as a gay sex party in Brussels on Friday.
Jozsef Szajer, a top member of Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, was stopped by police after reports of a dwelling party violating lockdown rules.
Prosecutors state he was found with drugs as he tried to flee the gathering, reportedly shinning down a drainpipe.
He apologised for "a personal failing".
On Friday he had pleaded parliamentary immunity but he is now under investigation - for both non-compliance with measures relating to the Covid pandemic and violation of drug laws.
The European Parliament said the immunity rule only extended to an MEP's official duties, not to their private life.
What happened on Friday?
At around ( GMT), prosecutors say, police were alerted by neighbours who complained about noise and potential lockdown breaches in an apartment located on Rue des
Brussels &#; Despite the condemnations of Brussels, the Magyar executive continues to persecute Hungary&#;s Lgbt community and, after years of attacks, aims to bar the country&#;s most emblematic rainbow rights event, Budapest Pride.
Today (March 17), to the outrage of civil rights groups, several members of the governing coalition submitted a bill to parliament that would ban the Budapest Pride event and authorise town authorities to use facial recognition software to identify any participants. Attending the event will also result in fines of up to , Hungarian forints (about euros), which the state will earmark for &#;child protection.&#; The coalition currently holds a two-thirds majority in the legislative assembly, which implies that the bill will almost certainly turn into law.
The ban on the pride, which celebrates its 30th edition this year, is only the latest in a series of measures that go in the direction of homophobia and transphobia: several previous laws, adopted in , had banned gay
Hungary
Discrimination to Stay in Control - Orbán Has Declared the LGBT+ Community an EnemyA Glimpse of Hope for the LGBT+ Group
Despite robust and almost omnipresent express propaganda, many pro-LGBT+ organisations are active in Hungary - both party-linked and independent.
A parliamentary group called For a Diverse Hungary devotes to Hungarian LGBT+ people and human rights in general since The group consists of MPs from all opposition parties and is led by the liberal Momentum movement (ALDE member).
Independent organisations incorporate Budapest Pride, Labrisz, Háttér Society or Transvanilla. Also worth mentioning is the Rainbow Platform, founded by Momentum members, which recently organised a debate in Budapest on political diversity.
The European Union is also giving hope to the Hungarian LGBT+ community. It has the Hungarian government on its radar because of the so-called Infant Protection Act: In June last year, the European Commission took Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union – 15 EU countries have joined the action.
Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ gatherings
Hungarian lawmakers have voted through a controversial constitutional amendment that campaigners described as a “significant escalation” in the government’s efforts to crack down on dissent and chip away at human rights.
Backed by the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, and his rightwing populist party, Fidesz, the amendment passed on Monday along party lines, with votes for and 21 against.
It codifies the government’s recent bar on Pride events, paving the way for authorities to use facial recognition software to identify attenders and potentially fine them.
The amendment, which the government says prioritises the protection of children’s physical, mental and moral development, also enshrines the recognition of only two sexes, providing a constitutional basis for denying the gender identities of some in Hungary.
Amid Orbán’s repeated claims of foreign interference in the country’s politics, the amendment also allows the government to temporarily suspend Hungarian citizenship in the case of dual nationals deemed to po