Graduate School of Development Studies
Social visibility of Gay people in Hungary:
Action, Construction in Media and Society
A Research Paper presented by:
Nóra Szabó
(Hungary)
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of
MASTERS OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Specialization:
[Women, Gender, Development]
(WGD)
Members of the examining committee:
Dr Dubravka Zarkov [Supervisor]
Dr Stefan Dudink [Reader]
The Hague, The Netherlands
November, 2010
Disclaimer:
This document represents part of the author’s study programme while at the
Institute of Social Studies. The views stated therein are those of the author and
not necessarily those of the Institute.
Research papers are not made available for circulation outside of the Institute.
Inquiries:
Postal address:
Institute of Social Studies
P.O. Box 29776
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Location:
Kortenaerkade 12
2518 AX The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone:
+31 70 426 0460
Fax:
+31 70 426 0799
Contents
List of Tables
v
List of Figures
v
List of Acronyms
vi
Acknowledgements
vii
Abstract
viii
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.2 Contextual Background: Gay Social Visibility in Hungary
Political visibility of Gays in Hungary
Media Visibility of Gays in Hungary
Legal Visibility of Hungarian Gays
1.3 Theoretical framework
Theories on Social Visibility
Theories of Representation
Theories on Heteronormativity and Sexual Identity
The current state of the research on heteronormativity in Hungary
1.4 Research Questions and Methodology
1
1
2
4
4
5
5
7
9
10
11
Chapter 2 Media Visibility of Gays
2.1 The issue of politics: Analyzing society, judging gays
Gays in Hungarian Domestic Politics
Gays in International Politics
2.4. Conclusion
14
14
15
17
22
Chapter 3 Visibility of Gay People in Concrete Actions
3.1 The 1rst Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum
3.2 The 15th Budapest Pride
3.3 Conclusion
23
23
24
27
Chapter 4 Experiences of Famous Gay People
4.1 Being Famous Hungarian Gay
Personalisation of gayness and private-public dichotomy
4.2 Gay visibility in the heteronormative society
Media – a field of struggle
Budapest Pride – a field of awareness-raising
Visibility and Homophobia: Has anything changed?
28
28
28
31
32
34
35
4.3
Conclusion
37
Chapter 5 Summary
38
References
39
Appendices
42
List of Tables
Table I Legal framework for Gays in Hungary
Table II Legal Framework for Gays in Post-communist countries
Table III Overall constitution of the research sample
Table IV Articles of Élet és Irodalom
Table V Articles of Figyelő
Table VI Articles of Heti Válasz
Table VII Yearly distribution of the relevant articles
Table VIII Frequency of themes in the observed media
Table IX The used terminology for Gay people in the observed media
List of Figures
Figure 1: Methodological perspectives on social visibility of Gays in Hungary
Figure 2: Age distribution of ÉS readers
Figure 3: Qualification of ÉS readers
Figure 4: Profession of ÉS readers
Figure 5: Residence of ÉS readers
Figure 6: Age distribution of Figyelő readers
Figure 7: Qualification of Figyelő readers
Figure 8: Profession of Figyelő readers
Figure 9: Residence of Figyelő readers
Figure 10: Age distribution of Heti Válasz readers
Figure 11: Qualification of Heti Válasz readers
Figure 12: Profession of Heti Válasz readers
Figure 13: Residence of Heti Válasz
List of Acronyms
EAGLE
Employee Alliance for Gay, Lesbian,
Bisexual
and
Transgender
Empowerment
HBLF
Hungarian Business Leadership
Forum
International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Trans and Intersex Association
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender,
Intersex
ILGA
LGBTI
Acknowledgements
This research paper would not have been possible without the guidance and
the help of several individuals who in one way or another contributed and
extended their valuable assistance in the preparation and completion of this
study.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Mother
who provided me the opportunity doing this Master program at the Institute of
Social Studies. Whenever I have felt joy, challenge, frustration and struggle
during my studies, the feeling that she believes in me has always helped me
keep going.
ISS has been overwhelming for what it added to my knowledge and
experience. I am pleased to thank to all my teachers and friends who have had
kind concern and consideration regarding my academic requirements. I am
heartily thankful to my supervisor, Dr Dubravka Zarkov, whose
encouragement, guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled
me to develop an understanding of the subject. Dubravka, you have been my
inspiration as I hurdle all the obstacles in the completion this research work. I
am grateful to Dr Stefan Dudink for the insights he has shared. Despite the
distance, he has ensured me unfailing support as my second reader.
This is a great opportunity to thank to András Lengyel and Judit Major whose
sincerity and encouragement I will never forget. András and Judit, you are two
wonderful people that I will be always grateful to. Without your assistance and
inspirations this work could not have been such colorful.
It is an honour for me to say thank you to all of my key informants for the
time they gave me, and for sharing their experiences. I am grateful to the
editors of Élet és Irodalom, Figyelő and Heti Válasz who have provided me the
materials for my media analysis. Last but not the least, I offer my regards and
blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect. Thank you my God,
for answering my prayers for giving me the strength to complete my paper.
This paper is dedicated to every citizen who loves freedom and has the courage
to stand up for the issues in connection with minorities, and especially to
Hungarian Gay people who are having faith.
Abstract
Taking Foucault’s conceptualization of power this paper shows how is
sexuality produced in Hungary, to extend and sustain specific power relations
of heteronormativity. In Hungarian culture the politics of sexuality has strongly
characterized by heterosexism and by – somewhat decreasing but still existing homophobia. The extent of tolerance towards sexual minorities remains on the
level that adults can do anything in their intimacies, but better not to bring ‘the
problem’ into public. In the hierarchy of sexualities, gay people are still seen as
second-class citizens.
One strategy for reaching equality is becoming visible. Even though
visibility does not evidently imply the success of discourse, it seems that
without it long-term issues - such as sexual rights and legal reforms – cannot
be tackled.
This research considers three ways in which Gay people are visibly
present in Hungary: print media, public events and personal narratives. Those
three ways of visibility are also introduced as specific ways of producing
knowledge about sexual minorities. My findings indicate that media visibility is
often present in a negative and stereotypical way, but also that there is a new
awareness of the homophobia in Hungarian society. This homophobia is most
apparent in the public events – such as Gay Pride – through the violence
against the marchers, the language that is used to insult them and the (in)action
of police that is supposed to protect the marchers. Finally, personal
experiences show mixed results: while individuals in certain fields (such as arts)
are both visible and accepted, in other domains (such as politics) being gay,
and even more so, being a lesbian, remains a field of struggle.
Relevance to Development Studies
Social marginalization and exclusion tend to be diagnosed in the terms of
‘social invisibility’.
“The issue of the visibility and intervisibility of social events, subjects and
sites proves relevant to a wide range of disciplines including sociology,
cultural and media studies, political science, urban studies, criminology,
identity studies, and science and technology studies” (Brighenti, 2010).
Tackling both social theory and social research this paper examines the
intersection of ‘social visibility’ in defining a ‘particular social group’ and
explores the relationship between the new form of gay visibilities under the
light of printed press, life experiences and specific events in the public realm.
“Developments within the field of sexuality research have often taken place
in relatively unsystematic ways, and frequently seemed quite distant from the
immediate understandings of sexual interpretations and categories in our daily
lives”. (Parker and Aggleton, 2007:4)
In seeking to make some sense of the important fact that sexual discourses
emerge in social and cultural dimensions – this empirical research provides
some insights into the process how the previously cultural taboo - the ‘other
sexual identity’- becomes visible today.
Thanks to its investigation on social visibility related to sexual orientation
and gender – and with appreciated theoretical intelligence - this paper may well
become a country specific document of visibility and sexuality studies.
Keywords
social visibility; ‘difference’; sexual minority; LGBTI; homosexuality;
heteronormativity; gender; sexual identity; media; experiences; actions;
Chapter 1
Introduction
Stuart Hall argues that “the question of ‘difference’ and ‘otherness’ has come to play an
increasingly significant role…difference is ambivalent. It can be both positive and negative. It is
both necessary for the production of meaning, the formation of language and culture, for social
identities and a subjective sense of the self as a sexed subject – and at the same time, it is
threatening, a site of danger, of negative feelings, of splitting, hostility and aggression towards the
‘Other’.” (Hall, 1997:238)
The discourses about ‘difference’ - and the ‘us’ and ‘them’ binary
opposition - have been mentioned, because my paper deals with a specific
form of the ‘otherness’. It studies problems around categorizing people in
absolute terms: as either homosexual or heterosexual in the Hungarian press. It
examines the dynamics around discrimination of gay people on the grounds of
their sexual identity. Furthermore, it provides some insights into the process
how the previously cultural taboo - the ‘other sexual identity’- becomes visible
today.
This research is adopting three-pronged methodology around the ‘visibility
of sexual difference’. The journey will flow from media to public realm, and
end with self-perceptions of gays, in the period from 2000 till 2010. The paper
explores how social visibility as a political force shapes and deflects the struggle
for sexual justice in the Hungarian context marked by institutions, policies and
beliefs that reinforce the rigid categories of homo and heterosexuality. It
shows how the pervasive and institutionalized ideological system - maintaining
the hegemony of heterosexuality over other non-normative sexualities - can be
very harmful to those who do not entirely fit within its bounds. Furthermore, it
provides an exploration how "private" issues related to sexuality have become
sites of intense public contestation between political actors basing their claims
on different moral principles.
The following section places attention on the contextual background of
the research. Referring to the current practices of political, legal, social and
cultural space, it tells about what it means ‘being Gay in Hungary’.
1.2 Contextual Background: Gay Social Visibility in
Hungary
As Hunyady claims in his book, Hungarian history offers an exceptional
opportunity for researchers to study dichotomous gender stereotypes. He
deploys that “personal system of values and attitudes certainly influence which
categorization of people are more emphatic and more memorable for us when
persons can be or are categorized from other points of view” (Hunyadi,
1998:4). This can also be applied to dichotomies of sexuality. This section
analyzes briefly a few spaces of visibility for Gay people in Hungary.1
Nowadays Hungary is increasingly influenced by globalization, as well
as capitalist, (neo)-liberal, and Western-oriented values and practices. However,
I presume that, the mindset of the people could not fully forget the dominant
way of thinking rooted in the communist system. Even though, “the 1989
transition from a centrally planned state-socialist system to a market-driven
capitalist economy in Central and Eastern Europe … entails changing the
previous patterns of production”, and “it is also fundamentally altered the
political and social structures and many cultural norms” (Fábián, 2005:2),
ideologies of equality - understood as uniformity and sameness- still prevail
over ideologies of individual freedom in Hungary. At least, the uniformity
ethos has remained as a dividend within the post-communist country. “Here,
the ideal identity is to be heterosexual, male and to be able to prove one's
Hungarian ethnic roots” (Szetey and Szilágyi, 20072). As a consequence,
whatever confronts uniformity, any kind of difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’
firstly formulates distinction in membership terms, and then provides moral
accounts for categorization, strengthening stereotypes in exclusive terms3.
As heterosexuality is the hegemonic norm in Hungary - constructed by
society through state policies, norms, religion, and customs and create
hierarchies among the sex-gender diversity (Correa et al. 2008) - other sexual
identities tend to be seen as ‘deviant’, ‘immoral’ or ‘abnormal’4.
Although surveys show that less and less citizens think about
homosexuality as a sin or a disease, a widespread view still consider
homosexuality a private issue, thereby not necessary to be talk about, especially
in public.
Political visibility of Gays in Hungary
In Foucault’s view “the ‘sexual mosaic’ of modern society is a dynamic
network in which the optimisation of power is achieved with and through the
multiplication of pleasures, not through their prohibition or restriction”
(Foucault, 1984: 64).
The political indication of the research area is a crucial issue in the current
case. However it is difficult to describe the present political space, as well as to
foretell what waits for LGBTI people. It should be noted that homosexuality
appears as a new item on the political and cultural agenda. No prominent
Hungarian had come ‘out of the closet’ before the 1990s. Alternative sexual
This short overview is based on the work done by Judit Takács (2007), who
published Az egyenlő bánásmód gyakorlatai: Az LMBT-embereket érintő társadalmi
megkülönböztés felszámolásnak keretei Magyarországon (How to put equality into practice? Antidiscrimination and equal treatment policymaking and LGBT people)
2 From an interview conducted with Hungarian Secretary of State, Gábor Szetey. It
can be found at <http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2007-08-22-szetey-en.html>
3 For instance, the ‘gypsy’ image of Roma people is full of stereotyping in the country.
Jewish, black, homosexuals etc. are also prisoners of exclusionary social practices,
beliefs and ideas, which are very potent tools for spreading hatred towards them.
4 The ‘category boxes’ of ‘moral’ and ‘immoral’ appears as fixed and difficult to
change.
1
orientation was simply not a public matter. Thereby, as the idea of gayness was
considered as a private issue, Hungary had no reason for change in legislation
until recently. As Walton (2009) states “while Budapest is becoming an ever
more cosmopolitan city, the Hungarian political scene is swinging swiftly to the
right”5. This statement seems to be fully true today - in 2010 - after the
parliamentary elections, which ended by the victory of the Hungary's centreright Fidesz and Christian Democrats alliance6. This political party promotes
‘traditional family values’; Christian faith, civic values, democratic values,
human security, and the respect for human dignity. The Fidesz - Hungarian
Civic Union - has a strong connection with the Christian culture7. According to
the political party “belief is the most personal public matter” (The Manifesto
of Fidesz, 2007:21).
What does this mean in relation with visibility of LGBTI people? Takács
indicates the relevance: “The Hungarian history of legal persecution of
homosexuals shows that the social rejection reflected by the discriminative
penal codes was originally rooted in a kind of moral judgement, inherited from
Christian doctrines” (Takács, 2007:73). A problematic part of the central-right
party’s agenda is that it does not go beyond the heterosexual basis, nor it
ignores other sexual identities. While referring to the concept of sexual citizens,
Takács gives an account on the present situation: “Besides media visibility,
another important factor of increasing public knowledge and understanding
concerning LGBTI issues is gaining ‘political visibility’. At present sexual
political themes do not seem to enjoy great popularity – if they are present at
all – in the political arena. Governments and political parties do not have wellconsidered sexual political programs and they do not like to think of people as
sexual citizens” (Takács, 2007:61). Hence, the political situation for LGBTI
people recalls some opening questions. It becomes evident that the distinction
between what can be seen and what remains hidden is always a political
question. In the expanding world of surveillance, media is a political tool that
makes visibility visible.
The report can be found at
<http://tyglobalist.org/index.php/20090511205/Features/Homophobia-inHungary.html>
6 Hungary's centre-right Fidesz and Christian Democrats alliance Fidesz-KDNP had
262 seats in the 386-seat parliament, five more than the 258 seats needed for the
supermajority. The Socialist party won 59 seats; radical nationalist Jobbik had 47 seats
and the green party Politics Can Be Different (LMP) won 16 mandates. Both Jobbik
and LMP will enter parliament for the first time. (The data is provided by The
National Election Office) Source: <http://www.valasztas.hu/>
7 The following text is found as part of The Manifesto of Fidesz (2007) on the website
of the political party: “Of course, we think highly of the moral values imparted by the
churches, the spiritual support extended by religious communities, the mutual
attention, and social care. We know that, regardless of one’s personal religious views,
the vast majority of people consider the churches an important building block of
society. Our political opponents may often ignore this, but we will continue to uphold
our strong conviction that only mutual respect and understanding, and real
partnership can lead to positive outcomes in church policies.”
(‘The Manifesto of Fidesz, 2007:21) The report ‘The Stronger Hungary’ is available at
<http://static.fidesz.hu/download/_EN/FideszPP2007_EN.pdf>
5
Media Visibility of Gays in Hungary
Media has a significant role in shaping the views of a society, in creating
systems of social values and in institutionalizing gender, sexual and other
identifications. This public domain is not just an individual platform of
entertainment. It is the space for political reflection, the practice of
communication. Moreover media is a cultural role player and a site of
representation. Media engage in production of knowledge about social and
political reality, through a specific lens. Its textual and visual images bring a
particular production of meanings.
Discovering the media visibility in Hungary, we can find a few quite
specialized settings for gay issues. Particular gay printed press, radio programs
and internet portals are involved in the advocacy while aiming to influence
public policy in favour of gays. The problem is that these are relatively obscure
places with only limited distribution outside the gay circles.
While acknowledging relevance of these specific media sources8, my
research focuses on the mainstream media visibility of gay issues. I will discuss
whether the three examined weekly papers operate along abyssal lines that
divide the human from the sub-human or not. Within this part my further
concern is to address the following questions:
-‘How are ’other sexual identities’ named, framed and represented?’-‘What does this visibility mean in terms of Othering?’ -‘Can we interpret visibility as an important milestone toward higher level of social
justice?’-‘Does visibility reflects social acceptance of gayness?’-
Legal Visibility of Hungarian Gays
Legislation concerning gays underwent significant positive development in
recent time9.
The same-sex sexual activity is legal in Hungary since 1962 (Háttér 2009;
ILGA 2009); the age of consent was equalized in 2002. The current age of
consent is 14 years (Gay Times 2009). Regarding the recognition of
relationships, unregistered cohabitation is legal since 199610, the registered
partnership since 2009 (Háttér 2009; ILGA 2009) but the same-sex marriage is
still not permitted. Concerning the matter of adoption, no joint adoption by
same-sex couples and no adoption of same-sex partner's child is legal (Háttér
2009; EU 2009; ILGA 2009). Gays and lesbians are allowed to serve in the
military.
The specification of gay media sources is found in Appendix I.
Table I illustrates the current legal frame for gays in Hungary.
10 “Since 1996, same-sex couples living together have had various rights in the fields
of health, criminal proceedings, social benefits and pensions” (UNHCR 2009).
8
9
Regarding the protection, the 2003 Act on Equal Treatment and the
Promotion of Equal Opportunities forbids discrimination based on factors
that include sexual orientation and sexual identity in the fields of employment
(Háttér 2009; ILGA 2009), education, housing, health, and access to goods and
services (Háttér 2009). This anti- discrimination law came into force in 2004.
To sum it up, we have seen that the political and social visibility of the
Gay community has grown, but the opportunities, shortcomings, and
dilemmas of this era of increased visibility still needs to be further observed.
Following this context of sexuality in Hungary, the central question of this
research is: how gay issues are made visible in three different social-political
sites printed press/media, public events and personal narratives.
The present study aims to explore the meanings of the (in) visibilities and
exposures of Gay people in Hungary. By bringing together three research sites
and modes of analysis - media, experiences and public events – the next
chapters try to find out how do Hungarian society relates to covert or obvious
discrimination present in the society in terms of ‘otherness’.
1.3 Theoretical framework
In seeking to make sense of the research problem, I integrate three theoretical
streams relevant for the research: (1) Theories on Social Visibility, (2) Theories
of Representation and (3) Theories on Heteronormativity and Sexual Identity.
Theories on Social Visibility
The analysis of this research problem will take social visibility and sexual
difference as its starting points. Social visibility covers a broad spectrum of
ideas, practices, ideologies and meanings. Though many fruitful studies have
been produced using various theorisations of the concept of visibility (For
instance Benjamin, Foucault, Goffman, Habermas, McLuhan, Mead, and
Taylor etc.) a unified definition of the concept is not yet available. The reason
of the wide range of works might be found in the fact that visibility turns out
to be relevant to several disciplines – ranging from gender studies to
criminology, from media studies to political science. Anderson was first to
assert the concept of ‘social visibility’, but he did not give an explicit definition
on the term (Anderson 1949: 368; 570). In his view, social visibility can be
attained by competencies of the individual (ibid). This articulation becomes
implicit at the point that the individual competences are recognized by others
in the group. Anderson did not pursue the question whether someone should
own the relevant skills to group functioning, or not.
Throughout its theoretical development an important milestone occurred
in the twentieth century when ‘the visible’ was no longer simplified to the
‘visual’. It was a common approach among scholars making philosophical
research on the phenomenology of perception (Merleau-Ponty 1962) and on
the symbolic (Langer 1957). Anthropologists11 have paid more attention to the
domain of physical perception and its inextricable intermixing with cognition
(Howes 2003).
Through a study on children’s development Clifford describes social
visibility as “the position an individual occupies within a group as it is
perceived by other members of the group” (Clifford 1963:799). He makes
distinction between three types of visibility: positive visibility (“The individual
is perceived by others as furthering the group process”, Clifford 1963:800);
social invisibility (“The individual occupies space within the group but is
perceived by others as contributing little other than his own presence”,
Clifford 1963:800) and negative visibility (“The individual adversely affects the
group process and his behaviour is perceived as such by others”, Clifford
1963:800). She writes that “social visibility can be measured in two ways. The
perceptions of individual group members relative to the visibility status of
other group members can be obtained. Visibility patterns can also be obtained
by independent observation of the group in action” (Clifford 1963:799) I
found the idea of ‘measuring’ unreliable, and irrelevant for social visibility. I
would rather use the concepts of representation and meaning while referring to
the social visibility.
Important contribution to theorizing visibility is this of Arendt, who links
it with “civic participation, i.e. action and speech in public space” (Mundi,
2010:1)
Feminist political philosopher Iris Young (1990) distinguishes between
five faces of oppression, one of which, ‘cultural imperialism’, she describes as
“to experience how the dominant meanings of a society render the particular
perspective of one’s own group invisible at the same time as they stereotype
one’s group and mark it out as the Other” (Young, 1990, 58-59).
Furthermore, ‘visibility’ is not just the presence in the images, paintings,
films, advertisements, and landscapes. Rather, it should be understood as
claims for recognition and redistribution, as propagated by Nancy Fraser:
“Gays and lesbians suffer from heterosexism: the authoritive construction of
norms that privilege heterosexuality. Along with this goes homophobia: the
cultural devaluation of homosexuality. Their sexuality thus disparaged,
homosexuals are subject to shaming, harassment, discrimination, and
violence, while being denied legal rights and equal protections- all
fundamentally denials of recognition” (Fraser 1997:18).
With these points in mind, I seek to present ‘visibility’ as an inherently
ambiguous phenomenon which is highly “dependent upon contexts and
complex social, technical and political arrangements” (Brighenti, 2010:4).
Belonging to the space of ‘otherness’ and ‘deviancy’ it is sometimes
tolerated, but often cracked down when it comes to the defence of public
morality. In Eribon’s view coming-out is understood as a result of individual
11.On
appearance and visibility in Arendt see: Leibovici, 2006; Assy, 2004, 2005;
Hammer, 1997.
decision. It is a prospect of choosing sexuality and the fight to acknowledge it
in the regulatory regime:
“One thing that characterizes a gay man is that, he is a person who, one day
or another, is confronted by a decision to tell or not to tell what he is. A
heterosexual man will not need to do this, being presupposed by the world to
be what he is. One’s relation to his ‘secret’ and to the different ways of
managing it in differing situations is one of the characteristics of gay life. It is,
of course, one of the things at stake in the struggle for visibility and
affirmation being conducted today, the struggle to show that homosexuality
exists and thereby to interrupt the process by which the self-evidence of
heteronormativity is reproduced” (Eribon 2004:52).
However the journey toward visibility seems to be far more complex. The
personal validation of a gay individual appears when he works through identity
issues, comes out and becomes visible. Comparing to Eribon’s logic this paper
represents one more step in accordance with the conceptual rigour of the
above argument.
The dilemmas around visibility in gay and lesbian studies is addressed by
Michael Foucault in his study of the relations between knowledge, power and
sexuality, Histoire de la Sexualité, which is the theoretical basis of this study.
Foucault (1978) perceives sexuality as saturated with power and produced
through interaction of many discursive and institutional practices. Either an
individual act of coming-out or coming-out in collective political action, it is
interpreted as a shift from private to public gay self-identification.
Mapping the embedded and immanent power dynamics in the Hungarian
society the current study conceive the critical ontology “as an attitude, an
ethos, a philosophical life in which the critique of what we are is at one and the
same time the historical analysis of the limits that are imposed on us and an
experiment with the possibility of going beyond them” (Foucault, 1986:50).
Given that “the lack of social recognition has an effect on the capacity of
LGBTI people to fully access and enjoy their rights as citizens (Takács et al.
2008:6), the question can be raised: Is social visibility a remedy for the
otherwise excluded, oppressed, discriminated against, marginalized,
stereotyped, objectified groups? Is social visibility the same as recognition, or,
could it provide a new ground for further oppression? Does it challenge or reenforce the dichotomous debate on ‘us’ and ‘them’ categories?
Theories of Representation
Social visibility could be defined in terms of representation and selfrepresentation as the two are much related concepts. In the current study,
media is used as an epistemological site, which produces, and permits us to
know, the ‘difference’. It offers a space to politics and strategies for
representation. The deployment of representation as espoused by Stuart Hall
(1997):
“Representation means using language to say something meaningful about, or
to represent, the world meaningfully, to other people. .... Representation is an
essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged”
(Hall, 1997:15)
While examining theories of representation, Hall distinguishes between
three different approaches: nimetic12, intentionel13 and constuctivist14 approach. The
relationship between the three approaches is defined by a correlation15. For my
study, the constructionist approach is the most applicable. These conceptual
strands on cultural and social representation will form the focus of my media
analysis. Barker (2003) states that cultural representation is about
“how the world is socially constructed and represented to and by us, in
meaningful ways. Indeed, the central stand of cultural studies can be understood
as the study of culture signifying practices of representation. This requires us to
explore the textual generation of meaning. It also demands investigation of the
modes by which meaning is produced in a variety of contexts. Further, cultural
representations and meanings have a certain materiality. That is, they are
embedded in sounds, inscriptions, objects, images, books, magazines and
television programs. They are produced, enacted, used and understood in specific
social contexts” (Barker, 2003:8)
Social representations are the
“systems of values, ideas and practices with a twofold function: first to
establish an order which will enable individuals to orient themselves in
their material and social world and to master it; and secondly to enable
communication…by providing a code for social exchange and a code for
naming and classifying unambiguously the various aspects of their worlds
and their individual and group history” (Moscovici, 1973:13).
In Moscovici’s view, social representation is concerned as the collective
elaboration: “of a social object by the community for the purpose of behaving
and communicating” (Moscovici, 1963:251). Both definitions are relevant for
my study as I look at the specific (Hungarian) systems of value and gender and
sexuality orders, as well as specific contexts of media, public protests and
individual experiences.
“The reflective or nimetic approach proposed a direct and transparent relationship of
imitation or reflection between words (signs) and things”. (Hall, 1997:35)
13 “The intentional theory reduced representation to the intentions of its author or
subject”. (Hall, 1997:35)
14 “The constructionist theory proposed a complex and meditated relationship between
things in the world, our concepts in thought and language.” (Hall, 1997:35)
15 “The correlations between these levels –the material, the conceptual and the
signifying- are governed by our cultural and linguistic codes and it is this set of
interconnections which produces meaning.” (Hall, 1997:35)
12
The individual identity16 is culturally and socially constructed. Media take
part in this construction. They are an element in both cultural and social
representation. Ammu Joseph (2010)17, a journalist, refers to the specific force
of the media:
“Journalism sets the context for national debates on important current
events and affects public perception of issues across the socio-economic
and political continuum. By determining who has a voice in these debates
and who is silenced, which issues are discussed and how they're framed,
media have the power to maintain the status quo or challenge the
dominant order.”
Thus, the question is to what norms and meanings do media give rise?
How do they make sexual minorities visible? And, what does the ‘media
marking’ of sexual ‘difference’ tell us about the representation as a social and
cultural practise?
Theories on Heteronormativity and Sexual Identity
Ingraham writes about relationship between gender and heteronormativity as
historical and social construction through ‘thinking straight’. She argues that “it
is institutionalized heterosexuality that is served by dominant or conventional
constructions of gender, not the other way around” (Ingraham, 2006:309)
Naming the way as ‘heterosexual imaginary’, Ingraham argues that the current
approach of sexual studies often tends to assume a stable position about the
description of ‘heterosexuality’, and to take the socially constructed
assumptions on gender roles for granted. According to the author this
normative view is problematic, because it contributes to the institutionalisation
of heterosexuality, offers a default picture on material realities and still
considers social practices as natural. She further argues that heteronormativity
is:
“The belief system underlying institutionalized heterosexuality – constitutes
the dominant paradigm in Western Society. It is the basis for division of
labour and hierarchies of wealth and power stratified by gender, racial
categories, class and sexualities. It also underlies ideological struggles for
meaning and value” (Ingraham 2006:309).
Using this conceptualisation, the heteronormativity of the media is investigated
in my study. The discourse of ‘thinking straight’ is used in media to generate
I assume that the sexual identity of the gays is not fixed, but related to many other
relevant aspects of the person’s identity such as gender, class, socio-economic status,
public prominence etc. However, because of the lack of time and space, this research
will not address those issues.
17 Ammu Joseph, Other News, in Ranjit Devraj’s (2010) article on ‘More Women
Journalists Doesn’t Mean More Gender Awareness’ <http://othernews.info/index.php?p=3300>
16
people’s thinking and believes regarding sexuality. Thus, thinking straight
universalizes heterosexuality as the normal sexual behavior. Heteronormativity
ignores categories such as gay men, lesbians, transgender, transsexual, bisexual,
and intersex and put humans only into men and women. To sum it up, ways
are blocked for thinking that gender and sexuality are complex and fluid.
Spargo (1999:50) argues that a “crucial feature of Foucault’s analysis of
sexuality and of related poststructuralist and queer readings is that the
individual is not viewed as an autonomous Cartesian subject (‘I think and
therefore I am’) who has an innate or essential identity that exists
independently of language”. Rather, sexuality and heteronormativity are seen as
a socially, culturally and historically produced.
Correa et al. (2008) offer an account on how ‘sexual identities’ are created.
‘Sexual’ and gender identity – as well as heteronormativity and gender roles- is
constructed by society through state policies, norm, religions, customs and
create hierarchies among the sex-gender diversity, and then put into ‘category
boxes’ of normal and not normal, good and bad. The authors note that, since
the start of the twenty-first century, the array of social movements has become
a social challenge, by implementing sexual and gender diversity, and facing
their contradictions and tensions. The examination of the identities requires a
higher degree of awareness among professionals, advocates and policy
researchers. According to him the sense of individuality and autonomy – as
well as someone’s sexual identity - is socially-culturally established by practical
and discursive discourses.
The current state of the research on heteronormativity in Hungary
Besides the works of Judit Takács, sociologist - I found limited scholarship in
relation to Hungarian gay issues. Opinion polls –both at international18 and
national19 level– presented quantitative research findings on social acceptance
of gayness. However these studies have proved the existence of sexual
minority, and focused on negative issues20 – discriminatory social practices
affecting gays – while neglecting the positive dimensions. Other limitation is
that studies do not provide any place for the voice of the represented, or only
concentrates on institutional settings21 – like legislation. Thereby - as Kuhar
and Takács have pointed out - “for more information on this matter we have
to bridge the quantitative research findings with qualitative ones” (Kuhar and
Takács, 2007:190). When Takács (2007) writes on media representation of
International research project from 1991
Hungarian survey from 1993, 1994, 2003 (found in Inglehart et.al. 1996; Stulhofer
1996:157); Surveys conducted by the Medián Opinion and Market Research.
Omnibusz research project 1997, 2002, 2003.
20 László Tóth conducted a research between 1991 and 1996 on the social rejection of
homosexuality.
21 Opinion polls on the authorisation of gay marriage and the adoption of children by
gay couples were made by EOS Gallup Europe in 2003. The research took place in 30
European countries, including Hungary. The research findings are available on
http://www.eosgallupeurope.com/homo/index.html
18
19
LGBT people, her findings are based on the analysis of the HVG (a Hungarian
economic, political news magazine) within the period of 1993-2000.
My paper seeks to “understand the relationships between identity and action
in ways that allow for individual and collective agency in resisting oppressive
knowledges and practices without returning to the modernist idea of the
autonomous subject” (Spargo, 1999:65). I examine how media represent gay
people, as well as how gays act in, and see themselves, the media and the
society.
Most of the existing literature on heteronormativity in Hungary will be
referred to throughout the chapters. An interesting observation in relation to
the existing research is that the relevant sources tend to concentrate on
negative contexts – such as social exclusion or discrimination against gays. I
understand this fact as both a reflection of the actual social conditions of
heteronormativity in Hungary, as well as a thematic limitation in the Hungarian
literature.
1.4 Research Questions and Methodology22
My methodological framework takes three sites of social life - media, public
action, and personal experiences - in order to examine relationships between
specific social actors and the public sphere, My main objective is to understand
the logic of these relationships, and how they leads to the social visibility of
Hungarian LGBTI in the public.
Visibility in the public sphere operates along two dimensions: as an
individual act of coming out, or in collective political action. Mainstream media
is considered a key for understanding dominant discourse son sexual
minorities, and a mediator of social visibility of gays.
The strategic, individual social actors are well-known Hungarian LGBTI
people –female and male- whose position is significant in the Hungarian
society, and who are visible in the media. The collective actors are those
involved in public actions- street demonstrations during the Gay Pride March
and a conference on diversity in business sector. The media are also taken as a
social actor, because as a practice, and an institution, media partakes in power
relations, especially from the position of the dominance. Thus, media
representation is seen as a normalization of heteronormativity, or a struggle
against it.
The three levels of social life should not be seen separately. Rather we
should be aware that they interact with one and other and produce ongoing
effects on each other.
According to Hall (1997:21) “the meaning is not in the object or person or
thing, nor is it in the world. It is who fix the meaning so firmly that, after a while,
it comes to seem the natural and inevitable. The meaning is constructed by the systems
of representation.” Thereby, to define the practise -carried out in the media- is to
deal with the concept of representation, wherein, the text or the image can
define ‘who we are? This is the focus of the Chapter 2, where I analyze how
the media frame gay issues and gay people. According to Entman (1993:52)
22
The Table in Appendix III shows the overall constitution of the sample.
“framing essentially involves selection and salience. To frame is to select some
aspects of a perceived reality and make them more salient in a communicating
text, in such a way as to promote a particular problem definition, causal
interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the
item described”. In this chapter, I ask: What is included and excluded and how; what
is made visible and invisible and how? Who is missing from the story?
The focus is on three weekly newspapers - ÉS (Life and Literature); Figyelő
(Observer); Heti Válasz (Weekly Answer). The criteria of my selection among the
different press emphasized on the following points: (1) the paper ought to be a
weekly one, (2) it should provide the Hungarian reader with a broad review of
current national and international political, economic, social, cultural as well as
scientific issues, (3)finally the selected papers should follow conservative
political ideology. Regarding the papers’ political commitment, ÉS (Life and
Literature) and Figyelő (Observer) are conservative centre-left; Heti Válasz (Weekly
Answer) is a conservative centre-right.
Chapter 3 tells about two concrete events of 2010 when the LGBT
community have made collective actions: Budapest Pride and the 1rst LGBT
forum. In order to observe the quality of the gained visibility I have decided to
be part of the ‘public’. While choosing participatory observation as my research
method to approach the events I paid specific attention to acts and language what has been done and said by the participants in the events and what by the audience?
Especially after the first Gay Parade (1997), more and more gay men and
lesbians have started to proudly reveal their sexual orientation in the public.
Chapter 4 is about personal experiences of being publicly known as a gay or
lesbian person.
“Since women and men are located differently in the gender system almost
universally, one cannot assume that the construction of lesbianism and men's
homosexuality is identical or properties of women's homosexuality are derived
from those of male homosexuality.” (Kamano, 1990: 697)
My research was concentrated on the famous Hungarian individuals
publicly identifying themselves as gays. The reason for this choice is supported
by three points. Firstly, the coming-out of prominent homosexuals may affect
the public views about homosexuality differently than coming-out of unknown
individuals. Secondly, for people who are already well-known in the public,
decision over outing their sexual identity may mean an additional burden and
may lead to the loss of their prominent status; but, it may also help others to
do the same. Thirdly, in recent days being gay seems to have become ‘chick’ in
Hungary indicating possible shifts in dominant perceptions of this sexual
minority, given that in the past homosexuality in Hungary has been a taboo in
public domain.
In-depth interviews provided opportunities to focus on the variety of
personal experiences. Before starting the research, I planned to conduct
interviews with at least 10 well-known people. However, it was very difficult to
get contact with them and convince them to contribute to the project.
Conducting interviews with prominent gays required finding beforehand a
mediator because without this liaison almost none of the respondents would
have taken part in the research23. The number of key informants finally came
to five. It should be pointed out that the small sample was a significant
limitation of the research.
Modes of the data collection included oral and written forms: in person,
via e-mail and phone conversation. Three interviews (with Zsófia Bán, Klára
Ungár, and Ádám Nádasdy) were conducted personally. One informant
(Kristóf Steiner) answered the questions by e-mail, and one interview (Gábor
Szetey) was conducted by phone. Chapter 5 summarizes the observed aspects
of Hungarian gay life in the present day, reflecting on the meanings of visibility
at the social and personal levels.
Figure 1: Methodological perspectives on social visibility of Gays in
Hungary
ÉS
LIFE & LITERATURE
HETI VÁLASZ
WEEKLY ANSWER
FIGYELŐ
OBSERVER
3 WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS
DISCURSE ANALYSIS (FRAMING)
(2001-2010)
15 th BUDAPEST PRIDE
(JULY 4-11 2010)
MEDIA
EXPERIENCES
ACTION
S
OBSERVATION
& PARTICIPATION
1 rst HUNGARIAN LGBT
BUSINESS LEADERS FORUM
(MAY 20-21 2010)
made
VISIBLE IN
MEDIA
INTERVIEWS
WITH 5-6 KEY INFORMANTS
ENGAGED
IN OTHER ACTIONS
ENGAGED
IN PRIDE
I have also met a situation when the prominent person would have taken on the
interview in return for money. Thus no report was made in these cases.
23
Chapter 2
Media Visibility of Gays
“A vital feature of Foucault’s argument is that sexuality is not a natural
feature or fact of human life but a constructed category of experience
which has historical, social and cultural, rather than biological, origins”
(Spargo, 1999:12).
Using Foucault’s view as guidance I address the contribution of the Hungarian
printed press to Gay public visibility and to their specific identity creation,
within the period from 2001 till 20th August 2010. I have found 78 relevant
articles among 69.371 in the three weekly papers: in Élet és Irodalom (Life and
Literature) 23 articles, in Figyelő (Observer) 19 articles, while in Heti Válasz (Weekly
Answer) 36. The yearly distribution of the articles is remarkably different disperses from 3 to 13 per year. By far the most numerous are in 2004 and
2008, with 11 and 13 articles respectively. The background of the relatively
numerous articles cannot be interpreted by growing tolerance of the Hungarian
society. In 2004 the reason is the country’s accession to the European Union –
apparent in the fact that most of the articles can be grouped into international
politics. In 2008 the relatively high number is due to the violence that
happened during Budapest Pride. Furthermore, among 13 articles 7 deal with
questions of Hungarian internal politics.
The thematic analysis of the main focus of the articles resulted in 6
groups: politics; culture; science; religion; law; and economy. There have been a
few other topics, but they mostly remained at just few words of mentioning,
never reaching more central theme in the article. Those are, for instance:
AIDS, holocaust, and crime. The main focus of my analysis will be on the
topic of politics, with attention to domestic and international political issues.
My main interest was to identify what the story was about: what stories
have been told over and over again and what is missing from them; how the
changes relate to the year of publications, the events; who were the main
protagonists in the stories and do gay people have space to represent
themselves within the texts; finally, what claims and judgements were
presented in the stories? My other concern was to examine what kind of
terminology was used to mark LGBTI people.
2.1 The issue of politics: Analyzing society, judging gays
In Gayle Rubin’s view “sex is always political” (Rubin, 1993:4). She claims:
“the realm of sexuality has its own internal politics, inequities, and modes of
oppression. As with other aspects of human behaviour, the concrete
institutional forms of sexuality at any given time and place are products of
human activity. They are imbued with conflicts of interest and political
manoeuvring, both deliberate and incidental”. (Rubin, 1993:4) Therefore, it is
worth to observe how gay people- whose sexuality is defined against the norm
of heterosexuality- are presented in the domestic and international politics of
Hungary.
The discourse on sexual minorities in the three weeklies most frequently
came up in relation with politics -30 times. Among these 30 articles, 19 were
directly focused on Hungary and its internal affairs. On the ground of high
thematic representation, more detailed analysis is made on the political content
of the articles, though I will also address other topics (including economy), at
the end of this chapter.
I distinguished several topics in the domestic affairs: demonstration
during Gay Pride; homophobic society; ‘outing’ of a politician. With regard to
the international affairs, most prominent were the topics of sin and disease.
Gays in Hungarian Domestic Politics
An important political topic where gay people were mentioned by the articles
was the yearly organised Budapest Pride24. In a ÉS article on the opening
speech of Budapest Pride 200925 a prominent gay linguist, poet and writer –
Ádám Nádasdy - who publicly asserts his sexual identity said the following:
“The group of gay people differs from the other minorities, because gay
identity cannot be inherited, cannot be handed on, and cannot be taught”.
According to him, this minority group did not come into existence because of
social organisation, but rather it was rooted from the self-realization of
individual struggles, which resulted in undertaking the gay identity. It is
important to note that – except of Ádám Nádasdy – other gay people were not
quoted in the texts.
At this point, it is interesting to refer to an article26 from Heti Válasz –
written about the same event- which claims that Hungarian ex-Prime Minister
and his wife also took part in the Gay march. The march is the most visible
part of the Budapest Pride in one of the main streets - Andrassy Street. It was
also noted that this open stance, though, does not mirror the opinion of his
party, but rather, it expresses the sensitivity towards human rights of a civil
person. Notwithstanding it calls the attention of Hungarian citizen to the
importance of practising solidarity towards minorities.
Most of the texts written about the Budapest Pride concentrated just on
the violence - without asking or answering questions about the reasons and the
background of violence.
A number of articles in the weeklies pointed out that Hungarian society is
basically heteronormative27. Those articles stated that we consider everyone
ÉS: Magyar melegnek lenni, Being Hungarian Gay 04.09.2009.; Figyelő: A
melegfelvonuláson, At the Gay Pride 19.07.2007.; Heti Válasz: Álljon meg a menet!,
Steady! 10.09.2009.
25 ÉS: Magyar melegnek lenni, Being Hungarian Gay 04.09.2009.
26 Heti Válasz: Gyurcsányék is vonulnak az Andrássy úton; Gyurcsány and his wife
also march in Andrassy Street 05.09.2009.
27 For instance ÉS: Homofóbia, Homophobia 16.02.2001.; ÉS: Ez a csoport mindig
az, amit mondanak neki: ha kell homofób, ha kell antiszemita”, “This group is always
24
heterosexual since she/he furnishes information to us about the opposite. The
articles emphasized political judgment of sexual minorities referring to the
diverse opinion of the political parties, and the homophobic view of the
society, in general. For example, using the symbolism of Wittman’s (1996) ‘Gay
Manifesto’ an article28 - written directly on homophobia - was published in ÉS.
According to the writer of the article the definition of “ghetto inhabitants” –
provided by Wittman29 – faithfully reflects the Hungarian situation of gays in
2001. This statement is supported by the fact that formal legal equality for
homosexual citizens was still uninsured at that time. At school, children use the
pejorative term “faggot” (“buzi”). In self-defence, gay people ghettoize
themselves; they live in ghetto, because the ‘free territory’ belongs to
everybody else. In the writer’s view, only one thing makes the legal
discrimination of gay people possible: “the worst disease” - the homophobia. To
show how homophobic Hungarian society is, the journalist mentioned an
initiative of the Labrisz Lesbian Association in 2000. Gay activists from
Labrisz Lesbian sent a letter to Hungarian secondary schools offering teacher
training and talks with student about gay issues. The response was mostly
silence or refusal. Only 7 institutes were open to the idea where Labrisz
managed to perform their program.
In another article30 – also published in ÉS - a sociologist gives an account
on the relationship between sexuality and the society. “The question how
sexuality is handled by the society, is not about how we practise sex, but rather
about the allotted borders and about the laid barriers, about what the society
considers acceptable or not acceptable in relation with sexuality; and about the
tools with which it achieves that the people practise the accepted norms, and
do not practise the non-accepted ones”. Both of the ÉS article characterize
Hungarian society as homophobic, but the former is more analytical; the latter
does not go beyond the sociological colloquy, into the analysis of the
Hungarian social conditions.
In 2009 a text published in Heti Válasz 31 shows how strong political from
homosexuality can be. The text refers to a television news magazine where a
historian and a publicist discussed the refusal of the Constitutional Court to
accept the Common-Law Marriage. They noted that after reading the Bible, a
right wing speaker claimed that “homosexuality is a sin, and the merit of the
sin is death”. Two other opinions were cited on this incident. The opinion of
the Head of the conservative right party, “unhinged by religious belief”, while
the Head of the left wing party was afraid of conservative fundamentalist
reaction. The article tells that the Registered Common-Law Marriage was
refused by the Constitutional Court not only because the gay couples could use
the one, that said to be: if necessary, homophobic, if necessary, anti-semite”
20.07.2007.; Heti Válasz: Ki vagy a mennyekben?; Who are you in heaven?10.02.2009.
28 ÉS: Homofóbia, Homophobia 16.02.2001.
29 The writer of the article, Seres László, describes the atmosphere of Hungarian gay
people in 2001 by using the symbolism of ‘Gay Manifesto’ – referring to a book
written by Carl Wittman. (Wittman (1996) The sex – sociology and social history. Budapest).
30 ÉS: Ez a csoport mindig az, amit mondanak neki: ha kell homofób, ha kell
antiszemita”, “This group is always the one, that said to be: if necessary, homophobic,
if necessary, anti-semite” 20.07.2007
31 Heti Válasz: Ki vagy a mennyekben? Who are you in heaven? 10.02.2009.
it, but because it would have offered easier opportunity to heterosexual
couples, practically with the same content, and it would have diminished the
institution of marriage. Thus, as the action was not a direct decision against
homosexuals, there was no need for the mention of the Christian judgement
on homosexuality; particularly because the adjudication was also voted by leftwing adjudicators.
Finally, among the important political topics where homosexuality was
mentioned was also a coming-out of one Hungarian politician.
An article published in Figyelő32 reports an interview conducted with
Gábor Szetey, on the day when he left his chair as former Secretary of State for
Human Resources. During the political career of Szetey, Hungarian Parliament
adopted the Registered Civil Union Act, which came into force on 1st of
January 2009. Szetey33 is the first LGBTI member of government in Hungary,
and the second politician to come out. It is interesting to mention that the
Median Research Institute made a survey after the coming-out of Szetey,
receiving significantly positive results – given the Hungarian conditions. The
survey suggests that 47% of the population thinks that a homosexual gay
citizen should keep his sexual identity in secret, 38% regards it a better way if
the person declares his/her homosexuality, and 15% did not know the answer.
In case when a citizen is also a gay politician, 45% of the Hungarians consider
it a better way to keep the sexual identity in secret, 44% agree that it is better to
declare openly one’s homosexuality and 11% did not know the answer.
In conclusion, homosexuality in domestic affairs is addressed in the three
weeklies in a rather ambiguous way: on the one hand, there is a general
statement that Hungarian society is homophobic, to the point of violence
against gay people - especially if they assert their identities on the streets. On
the other hand, media still carry the messages of the most conservative sections
of the society, such as church and right wing politicians.
Gays in International Politics
Concerning gay issues in international political affairs most of the articles
were published in Heti Válasz (8 articles). The highest news value was given to
the debate around Rocco Buttiglione - a proposed candidate for the position of
European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security - in 2004, who
stated that homosexuality is a sin. The three texts34 elaborate the same EU
issue - accompanied by a storm of indignation. All of the three highlight the
statement of the strongly catholic EP candidate, and all of the three give voice
to different EP politicians to express their condemnation of the Buttiglione’s
statement. However, there are no Hungarian voices in any of the articles.
Figyelő: Ennyire volt támogatásom, I got support at this rate; 31.01.2008.
Gábor Szetey Szetey publicly declared that he was gay at the opening night of
Budapest's Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, on July 6, 2007. (Wikipedia)
34 Heti Válasz: A sokféleség átka, The malediction of diversity; 04.11.2004.; Heti
Válasz: Meghallgatás? Hearing? 18.11.2004.; Heti Válasz: Nem adja fel, He does not
give it up; 23.12.2004.
32
33
In the first article Buttiglione’s statement is quoted: ’homosexuality is a
sin, but it does not affect politics as long as we would say that homosexuality is
a crime in the eye of the law’. The weekly notes that Buttiglione provoked the
loud condemnation of the socialist, the communist and the liberal parties in the
EP. After M.E.P’s objected to his conservative, catholic views on
homosexuality and abortion, the authorization of the Barroso Comission
became doubtful35.
The second article36 again quotes the statement, repeated during the
hearing on the candidacy. It also quotes Buttiglione saying: ‘The state has, no
right to stick its nose into these things and nobody can be discriminated against
on the basis of sexual orientation... this stands in the Charter of Human Rights,
this stands in the Constitution and I have pledged to defend this constitution."
The article also notes that some of the Hungarian News Portals misquoted the
words of Buttiglione and quoted his statements erroneously. (For instance:
‘According to Buttiglione homosexuality is a disease’, Figyelőnet 15.10.2004;
Panoráma-Híradó Online 11.10.2004.; Magyar Hírlap Online 18.10.2004.;
‘disease and sin’ Hetek 15.10.2004. etc.)
The red line of the third article37 is an interview conducted with Rocco
Buttiglione, where again his statements are repeated and the context in which
they appeared were outlined. Correspondents say Mr Buttiglione's views on
issues such as homosexuality, which he considers a sin, have prompted unease
at the commission. Mr. Buttiglione says that his enemies asked him whether
homosexuality is a sin or not. He responded as homosexuality is a moral sin,
but it has no political significance since moral sin is not a political category.
The parliament's president, Josep Borrel, has described some of Mr
Buttiglione's comments as shocking, saying that perhaps if he were in charge of
beetroots it would not be so serious. Johannes Swoboda, an Austrian social
democrat influential in marshalling opposition to the appointment, said the
nominee's views may take on political significance. "Mr Buttiglione made it
clear that his private opinions will influence the way he will handle the
portfolio," he said.
As already noted, the way the controversy about the statement was
covered by the weekly Heti Válasz made the most conservative views about
homosexuality most visible.
2.2. Gays in the Society: Expert Opinions
Besides the political context, the three weeklies also wrote about gay people in
relation to culture, science, religion, law and economy.
After politics the cultural context was the most dominant, represented
with 19 articles. Homosexuality in the observed articles -related to literature,
films, theatres, radio and press - was not concerned with the personality of the
Heti Válasz: A sokféleség átka, The malediction of diversity; 04.11.2004.
Heti Válasz: Meghallgatás? Hearing? 18.11.2004.
37 Heti Válasz: Nem adja fel; He does not give it up; 23.12.2004
35
36
artist but rather with the content of their art work. It is interesting to note that
‘the other sexual identity’ was not a key question in discussing the art, but a
social problem in the background of the story. An article published in Figyelő38
in 2004 is a good example. The article claims that the subcultures of minorities
can rarely be integrated into the public culture, but their recognition could
encourage the acceptance of their representatives.
Another article39 belonging to the theme of economy points out that,
books, films, theatre about gay life could ease stereotypes. But, the article
states, too few heterosexual people are interested in these creations.
There were 6 articles on economic themes, but only two topics: they dealt
with the acceptance of gay people in the workplace and with the economic
potential of sexual minorities. The examination of the acceptance in the
workplace was explored from the perspective of the employer, and the
experiences of the gay employees were absent from the articles. The attitude of
the companies is regulated by the Act CXXV of 200340 - which was adopted on
behalf of the defence of minorities. However, it became clear from the texts
that the activity of the firms was limited to avoidance of discrimination –
rather than active inclusion of minorities. The economic potential of gay
consumer comes as a topic in 200541 with a statement that Hungarian
companies did not recognize the power of purchase in the gay community.
Another text42 from 2007 noticed the fears of the companies of a possible loss
of the heterosexual costumers, if advertising turns to the gay consumer.
Science was another important topic with 9 articles dealing with
psychiatry, genetics, and sociology and gay-lesbian studies. Most of the
scientific articles told about foreign research results, because in the observed
period research in relation to sexuality – except in the field of psychology and
psychiatry - was not significant in Hungary. The most relevant article was
published in ÉS43 – an interview with Judit Takács, sociologist. According to
her view, at the present moment in Hungary the homosexual identity is under
negative social judgement. Thereby the final goal of the gay political activism
should be nothing else but to prevent that the social prejudices turn into
aggressive actions.
That social prejudice will be difficult to deal with is evident from the
articles that discuss gay issues in relation to religion. There were 7 such texts
where homophobia is further encouraged by religious beliefs, most specifically
Christianity, which - historically - has seen ‘sex’ to be strictly for procreation.
Another strong religious view expressed in the articles is that homosexual
Figyelő: Másokk – Kisebbségek a tömegkultúrában; Others - Minorities in the public
culture; 08-14.07.2004.
39 Figyelő: Nem téma – Másság a cégeknél; Not an issue – Diversity at the workplace 28.08.2007.
40 Act CXXV of 2003 on equal treatment and the promotion of equal opportunities
41 Figyelő: Felismeretlenség - Homoszexuális fogyasztói célközönség, MisrecognitionHomosexual consumer target audience 11-17.08.2005.
42 Figyelő: Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági Potenciál, Pink Power – Economic Potential 28.08.2007.
43 ÉS: A különbözőséghez való jog, Right to diversity, 04. 06. 2004.
38
relationships undermine social and family structure. In one of the articles44 a
parliamentary politician not just considers the Gay Pride freaking and ungodly,
but he also claims that the collective visibility of the sexual minority offends
children rights. An interestingly different view was present in one text. In an
interview45 conducted with an ex Roman Catholic priest, homosexuality was
associated with the resistance against celibacy. According to the interviewee,
the reason of the priest’s interdict was not his gay identity, but the disavowal of
identifying himself with celibacy. Alluding to his own experiences, the exchurchman announced shocking details. According to his statement “60% of
the priests have a heterosexual partner;30% have a homosexual relationship
and just 10% keep up celibacy”. In order to alleviate the antagonism between
the church and the gay community - instead of acute debates and offence - the
ex-priest calls for patience from both sides.
It is interesting that the field of law was marginally mentioned in most of
the above enumerated articles, and in seven articles it was the main topic,
focused on human and civil rights. Articles addressing human rights46 dealt
with questions around ’the right of assembly’ and ’freedom of speech’, which –
in case of a Gay Pride - could be understood differently by the homo- and
heterosexual community. It was noted that not just the sexual minority is
authorized to organize collective political actions, but the right behoves the
homophobic counterdemonstrators as well. But the issue - whether the
obscene remarks (often degenerated into assault and battery) are legal or not –
was presented as a social and political problem, not just legal problem, in the
articles. Articles about civil rights47 mostly focus either on same-sex
partnership, the question of inheritance in case of gay couples or on adoption.
Those have become more frequent after the Hungary’s accession to the
European Union in 2004. There were references to the Registered Partnership
Bill – which took effect on July 1, 2009 – which symbolizes the acceptance of
gay autonomy at the highest legal level currently in Hungary. However, though
the Bill recognizes the relationship of same-sex couples, even now they do not
have the same rights as heterosexuals, because gay couples cannot inherit from
each other and cannot adopt children.
In most of those texts the gay people were much more talked about than
had an opportunity to themselves talk. Thus, one could say that - while the
issue of homosexuality in different spheres of social life is present – the gay
men and women are still invisible. Instead of them speaking about themselves,
the media platform is given to different experts (sociologies, lawyers,
politicians) and representatives of different institutions (church, political
parties) to speak about them.
2.3. Terminology: Marking Gay People
Heti Válasz: A pornó kiűzése, The expulsion of pornograghy 22.07.2004.
ÉS: Isten akarata, The will of God 26.06.2002
46 For instance ÉS: A gyűlöletbeszéd liberális felfogása, The liberal understanding of
the hatred speech 19.03.2010.
47 Heti Válasz: Páratlan Páros, Odd couple 29.06.2006.; Figyelő: Szingli szülők, Single
parents 27.07.2006.
44
45
While the analysis of the thematic areas indicates invisibility of the gay people,
despite of visibility of the gay issues, the analysis of the language could offer a
closer picture on the extent of tolerance in the constructed media reality.
During the terminological analysis 13 phrases were identified as being used to
mark the sexual minority: Meleg (Hungarian for Gay); Homosexuality,
homosexuals; Lesbian; Same-sex; Sexual minority; Homokos (Hungarian for
“cream-puff”); Otherness; Bisexual; Trans-sexual; Transzvesztita (Hungarian
for crossdresser); Buzi (Hungarian for “faggot”); Butch; LMBT (Hungarian
for LGBT).
By examining the phrases used in the three weeklies, it turned out that
besides the “traditional” use of words with negative or even obscene
connotation – regarding the frequency – the term ‘meleg’ was used most often
(631#). The word ‘meleg’ - which can be interpreted as the Hungarian version
of “gay”, with the literal meaning “warm” - refers to people who are conscious
of living as gay. In Hungarian language ‘meleg’ indicates increased
sensitiveness. The phrase ‘meleg’ was more often used by the two conservative
centre-left newspapers (ÉS: meleg 373#; Figyelő: meleg 141#) - but still it
appeared 117 times in the centre-right Heti Válasz (28# in one single article).
This term suggests more respect for the self-definition of homosexuals.
The term ‘homosexual48’ - which in Hungarian language has degrading and
derogatory connotation - occurred 421 times; more than half times in Heti
Válasz (227#). In the articles the word was used to express dismissive social
and moral judgements. In religious and political articles49 the phrase was joint
the concept of “sin”. Many times ‘homosexuality’ was the binary opposition of
heterosexuality (accepted social norm); sometimes a kind of “deviancy”,
sometimes a “moral sin”. The usage of the word reinforced the stereotypes in
the context of ‘other’.
The most derogatory and pejorative terms such as “buzi” (“faggot”) and
“homokos” (“cream-puff”) occurred most frequently in ÉS (“buzi” 39#;
“homokos” 3#) –mostly while writing on the Gay Pride and quoting the
shouts of the counterdemonstrators.50 The weekly also used the words when
the texts reflected on homophobia51 in the Hungarian society.
The most recent phrase – ‘LMBT’ (‘LGBT’) is an umbrella term covering
a very heterogeneous group of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people. It
occurred 30 times, more often in Figyelő (23 #), associated with economic
issues. The paper used the phrase while referring to the diversity in the
workplace. The articles consistently stated that diversity should be extend to
sexual minorities, beside including women, handicapped people, religious and
ethnic minorities. The phrase ‘lesbian’ was used 88 times in the selected articles
The phrase homosexual is a medical term from 1869 - invented by Karl Maria
Benkert – which only refers to the sexual orientation of the individual, and does not
deploy any other meaning. Takács (2004b)
49 For instance Heti Válasz: A sokféleség átka, The malediction of diversity;
04.11.2004.
50 For instance ÉS: Bekerítettek, Closed in on 25.07.2008.
51 For instance ÉS: Homofóbia, Homophobia 16.02.2001.
48
of the three weeklies - 59 times in ÉS. The word rarely stood alone; in most
cases it was part of the “gay and lesbian studies”, or it appeared in mentioning
the “Labrisz Lesbian Association” 52, usually with positive connotations. .
Other groups whose sexualities were defined against the norm of
heterosexuality – such as ’bisexual’, ’transsexual’ – were rarely named in the
texts (bisexual 6#; transsexual 14#). If their sexual orientation was mentioned,
the meaning still operated in the context of ’otherness’. It is important to
mention that while homosexuality was no longer regarded as a disease, ‘transsexuality’ was viewed as a sickness and a psychiatric disorder in the articles.
2.4. Conclusion
My analysis addressed almost 10 years of publishing of three weekly magazines
(2001-2009). It is clear that in that period the number of articles about
homosexuality was more or less steadily increasing, with most articles begin
written in relation to specific events. As it is showed by the above analysis the
political aspects of ’otherness’ were the most significant in the observed media.
The conservative right paper - Heti Válasz is the least accepting toward ’sex
offenders’ (Spargo, 1999:5), often in relation with the Catholic beliefs. The
conservative left papers (ÉS; Figyelő) much less condemned ‘otherness’; rather,
they illustrated the gay identity as a lifestyle choice, and gay people were
mostly seen as sexual minority.
The papers defined Hungarian society in some cases as homophobic, in
other times the question of tolerance came to the front. It is true for most of
the articles that they did not go beyond the level of generalization; they
presented the problems in a descriptive way without searching for the causes
or recommending solutions.
In the most of the texts there was a very limited space for the gay
people themselves. They were more often spoken about than speaking
themselves. If a gay person had the opportunity to raise her/his voice in the
articles, she/he was someone well-known, in a prominent position – politician,
writer, reporter – and never an ordinary individual.
During the examined 10 years period, the politically more correct
’meleg’ (’gay’) term became more frequent – year by year - but the usage of the
word ’homosexual’ still occurred considerably frequently. In the economic
weekly Figyelő the usage of the new, ‘LMBT’ (’LGBT’) term intensified during
the last five years, which should be positively evaluated, given Hungarian
conditions.
52
http://www.labrisz.hu/english
Chapter 3 Visibility of Gay People in
Concrete Actions
Instead of silencing gay issues, one way to struggle against the
discrimination of sexual minority is to organize public events. Gaining visibility
on a large scale could be an important step to change ignorance and
discomfort with the topic of gayness. But then the question rises about the
public opinion and attitude towards the public event. Thereby, the boundaries
of social visibility were further illuminated by the examination of two concrete
actions: the 1st Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum53 and the 15th
Budapest Pride - in summer 2010. Both of the events took place in the capital
of the country, in Budapest. While choosing participatory observation as my
research method to approach the events I paid specific attention to acts and
language - what has been done and said by the participants in the events and what by the
audience?
3.1 The 1rst Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum
The 1st Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum in Budapest was organized
by the Hungarian Business Leaders Forum (HBLF), with IBM Hungary as the
primary sponsor and co-organizer. It was held on May 20-21, 2010 at Central
European University. The LGBT Diversity was approached in economic terms
- as a competitive advantage to provide a forum for exploring the importance
of corporate diversity management.
It is important to note that beside this conference two meetings54 in 2009
had already partly touched on the relationship between LGBTI people and the
workplace. The current conference was still unique in a sense that it
prominently dealt with the gay question in the context of diversity, based on
the assumption that it was vital for effective action in the community and for
solving complex social and environmental problems.
Three multinational companies present in Hungary – IBM, Morgan
Stanley and Vodafone - were active participants. It was interesting that just one
Hungarian owned company was a sponsor: the Hungarian Post (Magyar
Posta). It became apparent during the conference that the corporate business
culture of diversity was typical only for the multinational companies. The
subsidiaries tended to follow foreign patterns, mostly in the moral normative
system introduced by the parent establishment. Nevertheless it became clear
I received an invitation card from the editor of Figyelő, who was kind to inform me
about the event. As the conference was held during the teaching period (May 20-21) I
was able to participate just on Friday. All the materials from the previous day were
received from the technicians, who recorded the presentations on Thursday.
54 HBLF Human Rights Working group meeting for Diversity, 27 April 2009; and
HBLF – Consultative Equal Chance Conference, 21 May 2009.
53
that the realization often went out with difficulties, because the corporate
culture of diversity did not have any roots in Hungary.
The participants of the conference were Chief Executive Officers,
Human Resource personnel, marketing and PR professionals, and
representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, who all
felt the topic was important.
While referring to practical experiences, the IBM Hungary – which is the
only company in the country having a special LMBT workgroup (EAGLEEmployee Alliance for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Empowerment) –
illustrated the economical advantages of a diverse working place. Discussions
focused on the most beneficial aspects of the presence of LGBT at the
workplace and in economy, on importance of diverse workplaces an element in
strengthening and emphasizing group work, and on importance of the
employees to be as diverse as the clients. Moreover in a positive and
supportive workplace the working colleagues could be free to be themselves
and concentrate on the work. It turned to be obvious from all the above that
throughout the event diverse ways of thinking and being was regarded as a
value for the company, and absolutely not a disadvantage.
3.2 The 15th Budapest Pride
The annual LGBT Film and Cultural Festival is probably the most important
cultural event for gay people in Hungary. Besides the “traditional” Gay Pride
march, its program covers workshops – on community building and coming
out issues, HIV prevention, transgender issues, legal issues such as same-sex
partnership and equal treatment legislation etc. The Festival also organizes
book presentations, art exhibitions, parties and film screenings55. “The idea of
organizing the first gay festival came in the years following the political
transition. However, the announcement of Hungary’s first Gay Pride in 1992
was in vain: the event was cancelled because of lack of interest” (Budapest
Pride 2010). Despite this difficulty in the start, a Pink Picnic was successfully
organized. In 1993 holding the first Gay film festival meant a milestone for the
Gay community. Moreover “the event was a sensation, as had been the Pink
Picnic now seen as the forerunner of the festivals” (ibid). After four years
break the first Gay Dignity March was organized in 1997. Between 1997 and
2006, gay pride marches were uneventful in a sense that gays could openly
expressed their difference in the streets of Budapest.
The 15th Budapest weeklong Festival was held from July 4-11, 2010. The
goal of the organizers56 was to fight for Hungarian LGBTI people’s rights,
To celebrate the 15th anniversary, the organizers offered many new programs.
Two theatre shows (Garbo and The Waiter) were performed, and for the first time
this year there was a ballroom dancing and speed dating.
56 “2001 year’s festival brought a change in the history of the festivals: while
previously the Lambda Budapest Gay Friends Association (the editorial staff of Mások
magazine), the Háttér Support Society for Gays and Lesbians, the Labrisz Lesbian
Association and other associations, groups and individuals had organized the event,
55
visibility, and acceptance. This year’s slogan - which until now was changed
every year – was a simple, lasting word with one meaning for the LGBT
community and every person: “Szabad” (Freedom). This one word is aimed to
express everything for which the Festival and those organizing it have worked
for 15 years.
The Gay Pride March – which is an integral part of the Festival – was held
on 10th July. On 9th July 2010 - one day before the Gay Dignity March - the
Rainbow Mission Foundation asked the President of the Republic, in an open
letter to express his solidarity with participants in order to prevent contingent
atrocities. Answer did not arrive for the request.
The number of participants was estimated less than one thousand.
Remembering atrocities against participants of the 2009 Gay Pride march, it
can also be assumed that the low number of participants was associated with
the increased risk of harassment and violence. Also, despite the common
picture in the media, most of the participants wore ‘normal’ and definitely nonprovocative clothes. Of course, some participants could not deny themselves
dressing up in a more attractive way.
Some of the writings on the panes of the demonstrators were: “Human
Rights are my Pride” (Amnesty International); “Basis of family is love”; “Visible
lesbians”, “Hungary is our country as well”; “Fascists have no place in Parliament”; “This
sign burns on me, this leads me since I act, this vitalize since I breath, teaches to trust in
yourself.” One young boy had a following message on his T-shirt: “It’s not easy to
be like me” (Budapest Pride 2010).
The Gay Pride March took place in a modified, shortened – not the
traditional – route, because of the fact that the police forces first seemed to
sabotage the March then refused to draw up cordons in a longer distance. At
the moment of the starting of the Gay Dignity Pride, I heard from one of the
organizers that only two hours before the March, the police officer told to
them at the site of the assembly that no cordons and entry gates would be
built, as had been negotiated previously. As I got to know later from the news,
“Budapest Police Chief, who arrived at the site somewhat later, modified that
statement saying cordons will be built when marchers are in physical danger”...
“When organizers held on to their plans, cordons appeared and the police
protected the march appropriately in the end”57
Violent behaviour of counterdemonstrators extended from obscene name
calling to physical attacks. Despite the assurance of the police, the participants
of the Pride had to defend themselves in several cases. Right wing extremists
not just broke into the March and halt it, by stepping in front of the leading
truck, but also attacked participants after the March58.
now the Rainbow Mission Foundation, consisting of members delegated by the
various gay associations, was specifically created to be the official festival organizer”.
(Budapest Pride 2010) <http://www.budapestpride.hu/en/local-traditions>
57 ‘Police Used Intimidation to Make Budapest Pride March Impossible’ The website
of Rainbow Mission Foundation; <http://www.budapestpride.hu/en/police-usedintimidation-to-make-budapest-pride-march-impossible>.
58 “Two men attacked one of the Festival’s volunteers at a metro station after the
march in the evening” (‘Police Used Intimidation to Make Budapest Pride March
Impossible’;
The
website
of
Rainbow
Mission
Foundation;
The extreme right groups organizing counter-demonstrations and the
police force responsible to protect the Gay Pride March have turned to have
similar views on the event. The police turned out to have strong homophobic
attitude which did not stay on the verbal level only, but also influenced their
actions in executing their task.
Two incidents are illustrative of this. One is about verbal abuse that joined
the right-wing groups and police. A number of participants in the Gay Pride
reported the following story, which was published in the organization’s
website: “Several organisers of Budapest Pride heard one police officer using
unacceptable language, saying that the Festival was provoking the extreme
right groups with our (the Rainbow) flag, and that: “I’m not calling anyone [for
assistance], they should take their faggot flag down” (Budapest Pride 2010).59
Another incident is about police actions at the very first day of the
Festival. On 4th July, “around 7 pm, after the opening ceremony a dozen NeoNazis appeared outside the Művész Cinema. They spent a long time shouting
verbal abuse, and tried to tear the rainbow flag down from the cinema wall.
The police officers posted outside the cinema managed to prevent this;
however, in a side street not visible from the cinema, two teenagers of the neoNazi group hit one of the participants of the Festival, who was leaving the
area.... Riot police appeared in large numbers, but they surrounded the victim
and demanded that he identify himself, while the perpetrators walked away
from the scene. It is only because Festival participants started to shout and
point at the perpetrators that the police intercepted their escape”.60 Another
incident during the same day happened when a tourist was hit by a shaved man
just because he ‘looked gay’ to the assailant (personal communication from the
witness).
However, it should be noted that the incidents and views noted above do
not reflect the attitude of all police forces or the whole of the society. The wide
spread view seemed to be that the violence was enacted by the extremist
minority. Still it is worth noting that a British Gay activist - at the beginning of
the Gay Dignity March - expressed his solidarity with Hungarian LGBT
marchers calling them “heroes”. This positive phrase referred not just to a
simple respect towards the demonstrators, but it should be understood in a
‘risk context’ of facing danger in verbal and physical sense. This line of thought
was further supported by the President of the Rainbow Mission Foundation,
who wished “safe and secure march” to the participants. The fact that the
collective action meant a risk of abuse – definitely not freedom - seemed to be
clear to everyone.
http://www.budapestpride.hu/en/police-used-intimidation-to-make-budapest-pridemarch-impossible) “The other attack took place on a bus in the early morning where
according to an eyewitness, two men in their 20s called a man of about 40 queer and
severely beat him up” (Ibid).
59 ‘Extreme Right Attack against Budapest Pride’; The website of Rainbow Mission
Foundation; http://budapestpride.hu/en/extreme-right-attack-against-budapest-pride
60 ‘Extreme Right Attack against Budapest Pride’; The website of Rainbow Mission
Foundation; http://budapestpride.hu/en/extreme-right-attack-against-budapest-pride
3.3 Conclusion
Challenge to the hegemonic construction of heteronormativity and
homophobia require great effort. The public events analyzed here made it clear
that the problem of gay people has been unlocked from the closets of social
invisibility, and has burst out of the private spheres. But what the new public
visibility of the LGBT means is still ambiguous.
The 1rst Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders Forum was a step towards
corporate diversity. The participants of the 1rst LGBT conference came up
with many important recommendations: the topic of LGBT should be handled
as an element of the business strategy, as part of the integration of diversities;
the development could be supported by an employee network, and the regular
communication of the already achieved steps. However, they stressed that it is
very important that integration of sexual minorities is not seen as a problem,
nor is it singled out to receiving more attention than the other marginalized
groups. This is indicative of the worry that too much visibility could be
counter-productive.
The event was, however, invisible in the three weeklies. . Just one article61
referred to the event. While one single article is far from recognition, it should
be pointed out that the text neither expressed prejudices nor discriminative
elements towards the gay people, nor the event.
The Gay Pride March was a political demonstration which aimed at
gaining public visibility, as an act towards the equal rights of LGBTI people
and struggle against discrimination. But, instead of openly celebrating gay
identities, social visibility for LGBTI people seemed to mean facing
manifestations of homophobia in the street. For the “less lucky ones” it was
even completed by suffering verbal or sometimes physical attacks. Since the
involvement of police forces was absolutely necessary and indispensable, the
public visibility of gayness could not be interpreted as freedom and acceptance
of the sexual minority. Furthermore, the three weeklies published only a
handful of articles about the Gay Cultural Festival – which is probably the
most important cultural event for gay people in Hungary. This media silencing
can be interpreted as an institutional tool for maintaining gay invisibility. As
the main focus of my analysis is the visibility of LGBTI people - which became
the most acute around the Gay Pride – the fact that gay issues were hardly
covered, included or even mentioned by the three weeklies can be understood
as a form of discrimination in itself.
Figyelő: Szivárványszínben – Másság a munkahelyen (In rainbow colours - Diversity
at the workplace. 20.05.2010.
61
Chapter 4
Experiences of Famous Gay People
Foucault (1978) perceives sexuality as saturated with power and produced
through interaction of many discursive and institutional practices. In his view
“psychoanalysis can be seen as the latest of a wide range of discursive practices
that have sought not to silence or repress sexuality but to make people speak
about it (and so themselves) in particular ways” (Spargo, 1999:14).
The question than is should we consider ‘the other sexual identity’ a private issue or
a public matter? In order to examine how Hungary’s current social ethics
towards gay issues influences the persons’ “Modus Vivendi”, this chapter
presents experiences of gay people - about their own social life and about the
growing social visibility of homosexuality in Hungary.
While analysing the material obtained in the interviews firstly, the
experiences of individual gay people have been examined. I trace the particular
perspective of the respondents and try to understand how the openly lived
prominent gay people evaluate their own positions in the era of sexual
modernity in national terms. This requires some extent of detail of the
individual narratives, so that key factors and conditions around special gay
identification can be presented. Secondly, I abstract from the individual
narratives some of the crucial points that appear to be significant for the
relation between the gay phenomena and the society in general. While referring
to discourses on homophobia, sexual control and heteronormativity62, this part
highlights the recent articulation of the national and cultural boundaries in
Hungary.
4.1 Being Famous Hungarian Gay
Foucault insisted that the category of homosexual “must be viewed as a
constructed category of knowledge rather than a discovered identity”. (Spargo,
1999:17) Thus, during my analysis ‘gay identity’ is not simply regarded as a
question of individual decisions, but as constructed in relationship to
Hungarian society. “It exists as knowledge within a particular discourse and is
bond up with power”. (Spargo, 1999:15)
Personalisation of gayness and private-public dichotomy
Examination of personal experiences of famous gay people showed that
personalization of gay identity has a high importance in society. All my
respondents were aware that undertaking gay identity in case of prominent
According to Spargo’s interpretation this term specifies the tendency in the
contemporary Western sex-gender system to view heterosexual relations as the norm,
and all other forms of sexual behaviour as deviations from this norm”. (Spargo,
1999:73)
62
people can contribute to the formulation of public opinion at a high extent.
While a poll surveys concentrating on gay issues (same-sex marriage, adoption
opportunities of gay couples) usually meet with flat refusal, if the question of
gayness is linked with a concrete person, the results appear to be more positive
(see the Chapter 2, on public opinion about outing of a well known politician).
This is also confirmed by the respondents:
“Often if people are confronted with concrete personalities, they relate to the
question in a completely different way than as if they had to talk about
gayness in general”. (Zsófia Bán – gay female literature-historian, writer)
“A public figure has a strong responsibility regarding the forming of the
public taste and morals” (Kristóf Steiner – gay male journalist, synch
dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
Beyond the awareness-raising within the heteronormative society – asking for
recognition that gay citizens exist in our society - and the self-identification of
the respondents, the acknowledgement of gayness assumed to help in changing
gay stereotypes and in the struggle for equal treatment. Moreover, it presumed
to give a support for those who are still behind the curtain:
“In every case where someone is deprived of equal rights, or there is
prejudice against him or her, you have to fight in your own name against
prejudice and for equal rights”. (Klára Ungár – gay female politician)
“It is important to set an example, to send a message that you can become
anything, you can get anywhere, even if you are a gay, and this does not mean
that you are more or less than others. This was very important for me that I
could do something for the people living under very miserable circumstances,
sometimes and living a lie, because I had also been in such situation and I
know how hard it is”. (Gábor Szetey – gay male politician)
Respondents had a very strong view that being gay is not a personal, but a
public matter in the contemporary societies, at least until equality is recognized
before the law.
“This is not a private affair”. (Ádám Nádasdy- gay male linguist, poet writer)
“Now it is not a personal matter anymore but a public matter… until there is
no equality before the law, this is not a personal matter”. (Zsófia Bán – gay
female literature-historian, writer)
“(Some) political parties announced in their programs openly that our
country is not ready yet to treat homosexuals and heterosexuals at the same
level from a legal point of view…a public figure has a strong responsibility
regarding the forming of the public taste and morals”. (Kristóf Steiner, gay
male journalist, synch dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
The opinion of one prominent heterosexual political philosopher, journalist
and writer corresponds with the view of the key gay informants:
“And as long as there is inequality, making a public appearance is a method of
fight…it is necessary that they appear in public and it is also necessary that
this issue is presented to the public by those believing in equality before the
law and in equality in general and it is also important that those people
affected appear as a separate group, for the equal dignity of which the battle is
being fought”. (Miklós Gáspár Tamás – heterosexual male political
philosopher, journalist, and writer)
Concerning the conditions around the decision to come out among the
respondents, one factor seemed to be undoubtedly necessary: at the period of
their coming out, they had already achieved an existentialist security. This
helped them to freely state their sexual preference. However, as the next
examples show, the field within which they secured their existence was also
important.
The ‘coming out’ has returned the most extreme reactions in case of
politicians. Whereas in the world of arts and media gay identity has been seen
as a form of diversity, in case of politicians it was not defined as a sort of
diversity, but rather as a sort of ‘otherness’.
“I got a lot of positive and negative, direct and indirect feed-back. At the very
edge of very negative responses were terrible threats. But I received much
more, about ten times so, grateful thanks from young gay people or their
parents”. (Gábor Szetey – gay male politician)
“Anyway, I was fortunate, because I lived in a social world where it was
relatively easy to admit. I deal with the liberal arts and intellectuals have been
more open to such things”. (Ádám Nádasdy - gay male linguist, poet writer)
Though the attitude of artistic world may look like - at the first sight - as it
is more accepting towards gayness, in reality we cannot speak about greater
acceptance. One of the respondents has pointed out that the central idea has
built on the principle of ‘panem et circenses’ (bread and games).
“We have a rather colorful palette regarding public figures: among them there
are Roma, heterosexuals, homosexuals, Jews and transsexuals as well. I would
say that that this is rather a ‘provide bread and show for the people’ attitude,
than the real acceptance of diversity; But still, this better than nothing. ”
(Kristóf Steiner – gay male journalist, synch dramaturge, TV presenter, actor )
Concerning the career of the respondents, being identified as gay seemed
not to have an impact in the field of arts. However the difference between the
world of arts and politics is clear. A respondent working as journalist, TV
presenter and actor claimed that his gay identity - instead of negatively
influencing his trajectory – had supported his professional progress at the
beginning, in the short run. In the long run, talent and work were crucial:
“It is evident, that less people would read my articles, my book or my
translations if the media had not dealt with me earlier in connection with
homosexuality… this functioned as some kind of a springboard for me. After
the board comes however, no matter how much it helped, deep water, in
which no “tricks” can help you only hard work”. (Kristóf Steiner – gay
journalist, synch dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
As a setback factor, gay identity has been present in one case - of a woman
politician. It should be noted however, that several things may be here in
question. One - that this case – or those of other politicians – may not be
linked only to the refusal of gay identity, but rather that sexual identity has
been used as a peg to hang on a political manoeuvre.
“So presumably it hindered my career, but I can also say it did not. Probably
it was simply used in a given political fight which was very fierce backstage”.
(Klára Ungár – gay female politician)
However, there may also be a difference in society’s reactions to female and
male gay identities. My research unfortunately could not explore this issue
further, because of the limited number of respondents.
4.2 Gay visibility in the heteronormative society
Beyond personal experiences the other important question has been the social
judgment of gay identities and issues in the country. Requesting the opinion of
my key informants I have investigated the important shifts taking place in the
legal framework, media, cultural festivals and society in general. Mapping these
issues has helped me understand how the informants consider the growing
social visibility of gayness, in a few specific cases.
The registered partnership is one of the important thresholds. As the highest
legal provision in favor of gay people it has been addressed several times by the
respondents, from the perspective of ‘Equal chance’. Regarding personal
concern, only two informants have accounted for taking the advantage of this
legal enactment. By all means, it is important to note here that the male
politician was among my respondents, who helped the law come into force.
“It resulted in the acceptance of registered cohabitation. Practically - out of
nothing. It was not by chance, evidently. No matter what people say, I hope
the present government – not because they like it – see the reality of the
world and are not going to step back from something. I do not think it would
be revoked. It is there already. And it would have never been done if I had
not started it”63. (Gábor Szetey – gay male politician)
Comparing the situation of gays in other countries the recent significant
positive development of the Hungarian legislation is undoubted. But still life as
a couple is not easy for gay people. Same-sex families face many difficulties.
Beside the commonly known matters – such as the problem of adoption and
inheritance – one of my respondents pointed out a case in which she has met
with discrimination on the ground of her different family arrangements. The
problem was the application for international fellowship, wherein the family
could not travel together:
“It constitutes a drawback in cases when you have to enter for a scholarship
where you would enter for it as a family of man and woman; but you cannot
do this as a gay family, because, let us say, the American federal government
accepts only legal marriage as a certificate of your family status. They do not
accept common law marriages”. (Zsófia Bán – gay female literature-historian,
writer)
Another informant – living in partnership – has mentioned negative
judgment within his family, at the moment when an inheritance was an issue.
Thus, while the law is there, social reality is still far from equality before the
law. This is also evident in the way my respondents speak about relevance of
the Gay Pride and the way media address the gay issues. These two topics explored in the two earlier chapters – will now be explored from the
perspective of personal experiences and views of the respondents.
Media – a field of struggle
Considering the written press as a medium forming social opinions, my
respondents all argued that the press can contribute a lot to the acceptance of
gays. On the other hand, with extremely objectionable and openly aggressive
writing, media can make the process more difficult. Judging the current media,
all informants have deemed that the press wrote more and more about gay
related issues. All of them have referred to the polarization of the papers along
the political lines. While in the case of center and left liberal papers the context
is mostly positive, the right-wing press tends to use degrading terminology and
sometimes half-lies when writing about gay issues. The tabloid papers often
stick to presenting gays as ‘exotic animals’ just for sensational media coverage.
The male politician evaluates the media response of his coming-out:
„The written press was divided along the political lines. Right-wing papers
were not able to write down the world ‘gay’, they talked continuously about
63
Remark of the author: At the present there’s a political rumour going about
the repeal of the act.
the ‘homosexual’. With more or less success they tried to undermine my
person with half-lies and false information. (Gábor Szetey – gay male
politician)
The female politician stated:
“The negative experience came from the tabloid papers where –concerning
my gayness - words ‘admitted’ and ‘confessed’ were published again and
again…. You can ‘acknowledge’ it, you can ‘talk’ about it or there are many
other words you can use, but not the word ‘admit’” (Klára Ungár – gay
female politician)
An important statement was also made by a male gay journalist:
“It does not help in any way, if they present us as exotic animals and the
tabloid papers stamp the sign 18 [age limit, comment NS] on articles about
gays, although there is no word in them about sex, only about the love and
the alliance of two men” (Kristóf Steiner – gay male journalist, synch
dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
Thus, while the respondents above have critical view on how they personally,
and gay issues in general, are made visible in media, other respondents insisted
that visibility in media is necessary:
“It is by all means important that gays as an existing and never disappearing
subculture be popularized by the media… we need ‘good PR’”. (Kristóf
Steiner – gay male journalist, synch dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
“I think much more reports or stories should be published disclosing specific
information about the discrimination experienced by gay citizens”. (Zsófia
Bán – gay female literature-historian, writer)
Concerning the media visibility of gay issues, the heterosexual political
philosopher - though acknowledging the partial support of the liberal and leftwing press - evaluates the whole picture in another way. In his view the gay
community – in conjunction with other minority groups – is relatively
powerless; because the question of integration tends to be lost more and more:
“In the written media, mainly in the liberal and left-wing weekly and monthly
magazines, there is, without doubt, some support for the demands of the
homosexuals. This is, however, rather weak and sporadic… Media should be
considered rather as a battlefield, where the fight is being fought as part of
publicity and you can also see that the integrationist political discussion
moved into the background, faded and became in fact dumb”. (Miklós
Gáspár Tamás – heterosexual male political philosopher, journalist, and
writer)
Budapest Pride – a field of awareness-raising
Each of my key informants has considered the Budapest Pride as an
awareness-raising event. According to them the cultural festival has similar
implication –from the point of the gay community – as public figures outing
their gay identities. All of them have disagreed with the broadly spread
stereotype that the goal of the Pride is exhibitionism and making scandals. It
should be a glorification of equality. In their view the Gay Dignity March
carries a political message that serves to express the existence and rights of the
sexual minority. Here are some of the statements:
„Gay Pride is there in order to make people get used to it…This is about the
fact that we are different, but we live together and accept one and other”.
(Zsófia Bán – gay female literature-historian, writer)
“Gay Pride is about the fact that we are there, we exist and this is its message
in the Western part of the world, by the way. That this is a very special group,
an interesting group, a bit progressive group, a bit exhibitionist group, who
can party and that’s it”. (Gábor Szetey – gay male politician)
“This year we have demonstrated that we do not want to make scandals or
declare any kind of a deviancy, but we would like to make people understand:
every one of us comes from light, we are one and the same and although
there are differences between us, our immortal core, our essence and nature
shines in the same way”. (Kristóf Steiner – gay male journalist, synch
dramaturge, TV presenter, actor)
Maintaining the event has been regarded important as long as the event can
strengthen the demand for equality in every field of society, until real
acceptance and freedom occur.
It should be noted here that one of the respondents had hesitation regarding
this position. Referring to the series of atrocities and the indispensable, but
inadequate protection of the police, he has seen little chance of the Gay Pride
to realize its original goal. Therefore he also questioned the necessity of
organizing the festival:
“Strangely enough I think it is important only in an indirect way, because it is
sad, in fact…” (Ádám Nádasdy - gay male linguist, poet, writer, translator)
Visibility and Homophobia: Has anything changed?
One of my questions to the respondents was whether homophobic attitude of
the Hungarian society has changed in the last five years. One important change
was noted: breaking off the silence about gay issues:
“The most horrid thing earlier was the big silence. Now they talk about it and
many people feel they also have to say something”. (Ádám Nádasdy - gay
male linguist, poet, writer, translator)
But the experiences of the respondents have shown that the increasing
visibility brought ambiguous results. The woman politician has pointed out the
existing difference among the diverse generations of the society in relation with
gay issues. In her opinion, the presently growing up generation meets more and
more with the topic of gayness, and is becoming more tolerant. This is
principally true for young people living in bigger cities. But as far as she can
see, the elder generation is not enough open to change, its attitude is still
described by aloofness and refusal:
“Most probably I will not change people who are over 60, it is
hopeless…What I see is that in bigger cities and among young people who
had already graduated from secondary school, it is not trendy to be
homophobe any more. And this has many reasons. American films and series
have come to us for 20 years now… In these series more and more gay
people occur. Both men, and women. Sometimes they are even bosses. And
then it turns out that they have the same love problems, they quarrel, they
break up…Besides, there are many internet sites, too, and articles appear
advising you what to do when you see that your own child’s interest is
towards his/her own sex, so educational popular pieces of writing teaching us
acceptance and this is important”. (Klára Ungár – gay female politician)
One informant has pointed out the change in the way Catholic Church looks at
priests:
“What I see, religious leaders accept the fact that there are many gays among
priests, and maybe it is better that it is there, maybe it is really a private
matter”. (Ádám Nádasy gay male linguist, poet, writer, translator)
Besides the above, all of my informants – have negatively evaluated the
changes of the last five years within the Hungarian society. It is worth noting
that some of them currently live abroad and form their opinion on the basis of
information that comes to them from the news, internet and friends in the
country.
One the one hand, my respondents pointed out to more silence. The
opinion of the heterosexual political philosopher is that there is an antipathy
towards gays, as a “reaction of an anxious society in crisis, which simply does
not want to see the problem and dreads any problem which has not affected its
own life. It does not want any conflicts… It holds aloof and says, it is not
against integration, but it should not take place in public, they should not
demonstrate and make claims”. (Miklós Gáspár Tamás – heterosexual male
political philosopher, journalist, and writer)
On the other hand, the respondents point to the strengthening of the
extreme right forces. All of them have claimed – directly or indirectly – that the
public attitude has not improved, and what is more, citizens have become
more dismissive and discriminatory. The radical right-wing movements have
targeted minorities – including gays – and have assembled homophobic, antiSemite and anti-gypsy groups as their basis:
“I have been living abroad for 2.5 years now. What I can evaluate is that
rejection becomes a characteristic of the Hungarian society. I think, however,
this is the surface only. These are radical views, which were not there 3 years
ago. But I have no doubt that these people thought the same way previously,
too. Just they were not so important…” (Gábor Szetey – gay male politician)
„During the past few years the radical right-wing has been able to formulate
its own identity as opposed to minority groups, like the Jews, the gipsy and
the gays”. (Klára Ungár – gay female politician)
According my respondents the fact that the radical right-wing has become a
serious political actor cannot be affixed only to the economic crises. The
government also ought to be reminded of its responsibility.
“Radical actions of the right extremists were made possible by government by
not staking a strong line against them” (Zsófia Bán – gay female literaturehistorian, writer)
“Right-wing extremists use plain language; this is a sin of the socialists, that
they could not stop it, because they speak with gloves on their hands; what
is more they even strengthened the right-wing it in certain situations; ”. (Klára
Ungár – gay female politician)
Knowing the current social situation it can be stated that the advance of the
equality of gays can be achieved only with the marginalization of extreme
groups. But my key informants note that for this to happen, apolitical turn is
indispensable. In the meantime, the present system requires from gays
perseverance and protection of basic rights.
4.3 Conclusion
Besides the advantages of their prominent public position, the respondents
have considered ‘the coming-out’ as a risk-taking process. As we have seen,
this is a kind of resistance from the side of the individual or the community
against the ‘normal’ functioning of heteronormative society.
In spite of the very small number of respondents, it is clear that gay
people cannot be regarded as a homogeneous group. The conducted interviews
have made it plain that their situation is very much linked to the field of their
activities.
The world of art, media and humanities has proved to be most open
towards gays. However, sometimes this is because of sensationalism. Comingout for a gay politician has appeared to be more complicated. It is perhaps
arguable how the male and female politician respondent have “risked their
personal reputation for personal freedom”, and for the freedom of sexual
minorities in general. And they have pulled it off. They have done “good,
important work that continues to shape the public discourse” (Schwarzbaum,
1997:18). At the same time, gender seems to be an important factor in public
reactions to coming out, but this could not be explored in-depth.
Chapter 5
Summary
As we have seen the question, that how sexuality is handled by the society,
is about how the allotted borders and about the laid bans; about what the
society considers acceptable or not acceptable in relation with sexuality; and
about the tools, with which it achieves that the people practise the accepted
norms, and do not practise the non-accepted ones. At the first sight, the
possibility of having an alternative identity – straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual –
has seemed to depend on “discourses and their knowledges that produce and
police sexuality as well as gender” (Spargo, 1999:52). But the current study has
also demonstrated the ‘reverse discourse’ that sexuality can act as a source of
resistance. In this sense, the relationship between identity and action has been
deconstructed. This idea has referred to certain “ways that allow for individual
and collective agency in resisting oppressive knowledges and practices without
returning to the modernist idea of the autonomous subject” (Spargo, 1999:65).
In Hungarian culture the politics of sexuality has strongly characterized by
heterosexism and by – somewhat decreasing but still existing - homophobia.
The extent of tolerance towards sexual minorities has stuck on the level that
adults can do anything in their intimacies, but better not to bring ‘the problem’
into public. In gender hierarchy gay people are still seen as second-class
citizens. One form of the strategy for reaching equality is becoming visible.
Even though it does not evidently imply the success of discourse, but it seems
that without visibility long-term issues - such as sexual rights and legal reform
– cannot be tackled.
As gay desires, male or female, are still execrated and denied by a
significant part of the society – undertaking gay identity has seemed to be a
political choice. First it demonstrated “the liberating effects of confession”
(Dow, 2001:135) and it meant “an entry into a different realm of power” (Ibid)
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Appendices
Appendix I
Specific Media Sources for Gays in Hungary
Regarding the printed press – besides two newsletters of gay and lesbian organisations,
which are not available publicly – there is only one gay magazine, Mások (Others) (founded in
1989, officially published from 1991, now also available online 64) (Takács 2007: 28).
Furthermore, there is also an advertisement leaflet-like monthly publication, called Na végre!
100% GAY (At long last! 100% GAY) - (published from 2001 by the owner of a gay fitness
centre)” (Takács 2007:29).
Enumerating the existing gay radio programs we can mention “the Önazonos (Selfidentity) (broadcast from 1995 on the national radio), Pararádió (from 1997 on a non-profit
internet radio), Szappanopera helyett (Instead of Soap opera) (from 1998 on a non-profit
alternative radio, during 2001-2002 available only on the internet), Ki más?! (Who else?!) (broadcast from 1997 on a non-profit community radio)” (Takács 2007:29)
Concerning internet portals “gay.hu, functioning from 1996, pride.hu, the "first Hungarian
gay portal", an officially registered internet portal, established in 2001, and TranSexual Online,
the “most significant transsexual related site in Hungary” (Takács 2007:29)
64
http://www.masok.hu/
Table I: Legal framework for Gays in Hungary65
Homosexual acts
legal?
legal since
1962 +UN decl.
sign.
Recognition of
same-sex
relationships
Registered
partnership
since 2009
Same-sex
marriage
Same-sex
adoption
Allows
gays to
serve
openly in
military?
Laws concerning
Antigender
discrimination
identity/expression
(sexual
orientation)
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Please note that, the membership in the European Union not only requires repeal of anti-homosexuality
legislation, the Treaty of Amsterdam also requires anti-discrimination legislation to be enacted by its
member states. The Treaty of Amsterdam is available on
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/12002M/pdf/12002M_EN.pdf
65
Table 2: Legal framework for Gays in Post-communist countries
The chart shows how ahead/behind Hungary is on the legal framework with other postcommunist European countries: (East) Germany, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia,
Romania Albania, and Yugoslavia.
Recognition
Homosexual
LGBT rights in:
of same-sex
acts legal?
relationships
Croatia
Czech
Republic
Same-sex
marriage
Same-sex
adoption
Allows gays
to serve
openly in
military?
Antidiscrimination
(sexual
orientation)
Laws concerning gender
identity/expression
Legal
since 1977
+ UN decl.
sign.
Unregistered
cohabitation
since 2003
Act on the elimination of
Bans all antidiscrimination,
The Law on
gay discrimination]
volunteering
Legal
since 1962
+ UN decl.
sign.
Registered
partnership
since 2006.
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Germany
Legal
since 1968 in
East
Germany and
1969 in West Registered
partnership
Germany
since 2001
totally
legalized 1994
+ UN decl.
sign.
Hungary
Legal
since 1962
+ UN decl.
sign.
Poland
Never
punished.
Legal again
since 1932
+ UN decl.
sign.
(but
proposed)
/
Step-child
adoption
only
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Registered
partnership
since 2009
Constitution
defines
Single
marriage as "a gay persons
union of a
may adopt
man and a
woman”
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Sex change legal; birth
certificate is amended after
the reassignment surgery
Slovakia
Legal
since 1962
+ UN decl.
sign.
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Single
gay persons
may adopt
(Family Code
(Family
pending to
Code pending
allow
to allow same
adoption
sex marriage
rights as
so far has
married
passed the
couple so
first reading[
far has
passed the
first
reading)
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Sex change can be
recorded in a central
register, and new
documents can be issued
based on person's new
gender identity.
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Act on the elimination of
discrimination
Slovenia
Legal
since 1977
+ UN decl.
sign.
Serbia
Legal
since 1994
+ UN decl.
sign.
Albania
Legal
since 1995
+ UN decl.
sign.
Forbids discrimination
Bans all antibased on gender identity.
gay discrimination
Legal
since 1998
+ UN decl.
sign.
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Bosnia
and
Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Macedonia
Legal
since 1968
+ UN decl.
sign.
Legal
since 1996
+ UN decl.
sign.
Registered
partnership
since 2006
Constitution
defines
marriage as "a
union of a
man and a
woman"
Constitutional
ban since
1991.
Don't
ask, don't tell
policy
(similar to
the US)
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Montenegro
Legal
since 1977
+ UN decl.
sign.
Romania
Legal
since 1996
+ UN decl.
sign.
Russia
(incl. all
constituent
regions)
Constitutional
ban since
2007.
Bans some
anti-gay
discrimination
Bans all antigay discrimination
Legal
since 1993.
Previously
legal from
1917 to 1930.
Source: Wikipedia66
66
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#Central_Europe
Appendix II
Hungarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for Gays
Regarding the social space there are a number of NGOs for legal assistance to represent the
interest of Gay people and offer counselling service.

the Háttér Support Society for LGBT People67

the Labrisz Lesbian Association68

the Lambda Budapest Gay Association, the Habeas Corpus Working Group

the Five Loaves of Bread Community (“Öt kenyér” Christian Community for
Homosexuals)69

the “DAMKÖR” Gay Association70

the “Együtt Egymásért Kelet Magyarországon” (Together for Each Other in East-Hungary)
Gay Association

the Szimpozion Association71

the Atlasz LGBT Sport Association

and the Rainbow Mission Foundation72
Concerning the funding opportunities it was indicated by an EU report in 2009 that there
were no public funds specifically earmarked for Gay NGOs (Mar. 2009, 6). In contrast to this
report, a representative of Háttér Support Society pointed out in the same year (Háttér 18 Aug.
2009) that in reality there were state funds available for Gay NGOs, but the matter was that just
few NGOs had the capacity to take advantage of these financial sources.
www.hatter.hu
www.labrisz.hu
69 www.otkenyer.hu
70 www.tar.hu/damkor
71 http://szimpozion.hu/
72 www.szivarvany-misszio.hu
67
68
Appendix III
Table III Overall constitution of the research sample
The object, methods and sample of the study
Key actors of public
visibility
The Printed Press
Collective Actions
Famous Gay people
Sample
Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature)
Figyelő (Observer)
Heti Válasz (Weekly Answer)
1rst Hungarian LGBT Business Leaders
Forum (20-21 May 2010)
15th Budapest Pride (4-11 July 2010)
Bán Zsófia (F) lieratur historian, writer
Nádasdy Ádám (M) linguist, poet writer
Steiner Kristóf (M) journalist, synch
dramaturge, TV presenter, actor
Szetey Gábor (M) politician
Ungár Klára (F) politician
Method
Content Analysis
Analysis of
participatory
observation
Narrative Analysis
Appendix IV
The observed media (the examined period: 2001-2010)
Élet és Irodalom (ÉS - Life and Literature)
The Élet és Irodalom (Life and Literature) is a weekly Hungarian newspaper about literature
and politics, therefore it presents high values. This periodical is considered unique in this
sense, because it opens a space for the voice of autonomous intellectuals, without relying on
certain political and economic interests. ÉS has a circulation around 15.000-20.000 per week.
20.000 is the number of printed impression, and 15.000 refer to the actively purchased
pieces. Regarding the age of its readers the most significant group is formed by the people
who are in their forties, then followed by the younger generation between the ages of 15-29.
Figure 2: Age distribution of ÉS readers
11%
21%
19%
16%
33%
age 15-29
age 30-39
age 40-49
Source: website of Élet és Irodalom73
Élet és Irodalom. Available at Internet, http://www.es.hu/index.php?view=doc;21260; Accessed on 0705-2010
73
Foremost higher qualified citizens browse this periodical. While half of the readers have a
university degree, the other half has a general certificate on education.
Figure 3: Qualification of ÉS readers
3%
5%
9%
29%
college, university
trade school
under 8 years of primary school
54%
secondary school
8 years of primary school
Source: website of Élet és Irodalom74
Most of its readers are a highly qualified intellectual or a graduated employee. The rest also
have an intellectual profession or they are entrepreneurs. Thereby, the opinion of the readers
can considered dominant both in a narrower and in a wider environment, and tend to
influence or somewhat determine social values.
Élet és Irodalom. Available at Internet http://www.es.hu/index.php?view=doc;21260; Accessed on 0705-2010
74
Figure 4: Profession of ÉS readers
11%
6%
4%
4%
24%
20%
17%
14%
entrepreneur, manager
retired
other professional
other
graduated, professional
student
skilled worker
unskilled worker
Source: website of Élet és Irodalom75
Three-quarter of its audience lives in a city, and only every forth reader live in the
countryside.
Figure 5: Residence of ÉS readers
14%
43%
25%
18%
Budapest
Other city
County seat
Village
Source: website of Élet és Irodalom76
Élet és Irodalom. Available at Internet, http://www.es.hu/index.php?view=doc;21260; Accessed on 0705-2010
76 Élet és Irodalom. Available at Internet, http://www.es.hu/index.php?view=doc;21260; Accessed on 0705-2010
75
Figyelő (Observer)77
Figyelő (Observer) is a weekly magazine, published on Thursday. It is a trustable businesseconomic paper for professionals. It provides a collection of news, analysis, forecasts and
background materials to its readers, since more than 50 years. It gives a great help for
preparing and making business decisions. The paper has following sections: Economy and
Politics; Firm and Market; Money and Investment; Society and Trend; Business and People;
Research and Development; InfoTech, Plus; Weekly summaries. The paper’s style is
informative, easy to read, analysis based, objective and therefore reliable. Regarding the
consumer profile78 Figyelő has an audience around 35.000. The number of actively purchased
pieces per week is 11.515. The target audience of the paper consists of female and male
readers, who present the age category 20-59 of the Hungarian citizens.
Figure 6: Age distribution of Figyelő readers
1.1 %
12.1 %
19.6 %
26.2 %
18.8 %
22.3 %
age 15-17
age 18-29
age 30-39
age 40-49
age 50-59
60 above
Source: own creation on the basis of the data of Szonda - Gfk.; Nemzeti Médiaanalízis, 2009. III. né.
77
78
Source: Ipsos / GfK Hungária: MédiaNavigátor 2009. II. félév
Source: MATESZ Gyorsjelentés, 2009. IV. né.
Figure 7: Qualification of Figyelő readers
The target audience are highly qualified individuals, who has a higher wage than the average,
live in good financial conditions and have high consumer capacity.
1.1 %
0.0 %
8.9 %
19.0 %
71.0 %
under 8 years primary school
8 years primary school
trade school
GCSE
university degree
Source: own creation on the basis of the data of Szonda - Gfk.; Nemzeti Médiaanalízis, 2009. III. né.
Figure 8: Profession of Figyelő readers
Regarding occupation of the readers, they are middle-, or top managers or business decisionmakers of companies or public institutions. Or they work as an entrepreneur; they are
private investors, or university BA, MA, MBA students.
5.6 %
1.6 %
4.4 %
9.2 %
40.9 %
0.9 %
6.4 %
25.0 %
6.0 %
etrepreneur, manager
graduated, professional
other professional
skilled worker
unskilled, semi-skilled, agrar worker
unemployed
retired
student
other inactive person
Source: own creation on the basis of the data of Szonda - Gfk.; Nemzeti Médiaanalízis, 2009. III. né.
Figure 9: Residence of Figyelő readers
Most of the readers live in cities of the country.
7.6 %
44.0 %
26.9 %
21.5 %
Budapest
County seat
Other city
Village
Source: own creation on the basis of the data of Szonda - Gfk.; Nemzeti Médiaanalízis, 2009. III. né.
Heti Válasz
Heti Válasz (Weekly Answer) is a weekly paper, published on Thursday. The premise of its
foundation goes back to 1998-1999, when the Orbán government declared ‘the politics of
media balance’. In 2000 the government established the Public foundation for Environmentand Society-friendly Development (TTFK), whose main task was to give birth to a new
political weekly paper. The Heti Válasz (Weekly Answer) was founded by the TTFK. The first
issue was published in April 2001. From 2001 till 2004 the magazine was produced by the
TTFK, which resulted in political defencelessness. The change of ownership in 2004 and the
new market based operation changed the paper’s ideological profile in roots. The editorial
office recognized that there was no need to radical composition; hence there are not any
more radical things than the facts, themselves. The ideology of Heti Válasz is merely
conservative, but not on political party basis, but rather on value basis. This can be seen in
relation with its views about the economy, and the role of the family. According to a survey
made by MATESZ in 2008, the circulation is around 24.400-35.500 per week. Its readers are
20-59 aged intellectuals with advantageous financial background, high power of purchase –
who have an economic or another mental job.
Figure 10: Age distribution of Heti Válasz readers
1,8 %
26,0 %
25,8 %
15,3 %
15,4 %
15,6 %
15-17-y ear-old
18-29-y ear-old
Source: Ipsos / GfK Hungária: MédiaNavigátor 2010. Q2.
30-39-y ear-old
40-49-y ear-old
50-59-y ear-old
abov e 60
Figure 11: Qualification of Heti Válasz readers
0,0 %
5,5 %
5,6 %
51,7 %
37,2 %
under primary school
primary school
v ocational school
graduation
degree
Source: Ipsos / GfK Hungária: MédiaNavigátor 2010. Q2.
Figure 12: Profession of Heti Válasz readers
3.7 %
9.9 %
23.7 %
25.0 %
13.5 %
15.0 %
2.9 %
1.6 % 4.7 %
entrepreneur-manager
withe-collar with a degree
other white-collar
skilled worker
unskilled, semi-skilled, agricultural worker
unemployed
pensioner
pupil
other inactive
Source: Ipsos / GfK Hungária: MédiaNavigátor 2010. Q2.
Figure 13: Residence of Heti Válasz readers
12.1 %
48.4 %
27.8 %
11.8 %
Budapest
Source: Ipsos / GfK Hungária: MédiaNavigátor 2010. Q2.
County seat
Town
Village
Appendix V
Table IV: Articles of Élet és Irodalom
Political Commitment: Conservative Centre-left
Examined period: 2001-20th August 2010-09-12
Number of relevant articles: 23 articles
Thematic groups of Gayness
Themes
Law
(10 articles)
Franchise (Civil rights, Registered
Common- Law Marriage, Adoption)
(4 articles)
Human Rights
(Discrimination prohibitive affairs)
(6 articles)
Politics
(9 articles)
International internal affairs (US;
Title of the article
Egy meleg nyári délután
(On a hot Summer afternoon)
Magyar melegnek lenni
(Being Hungarian Gay)
Választás, sajtó és egy
hipotézis
(Election, Press and a
hypothesis)
Búcsú az SZDSZ-től
(Farewell from the SZDSZ)
Alkotmányos érték-e a
melegek autonómiája? Külföldi
példák és tapasztalatok
(Is the autonomy of gay
people should be considered as a
Constitutional value?
Foreign examples and
experiences)
A gyűlöletbeszéd liberális
felfogása (The liberal understanding
of the hatred speech)
Homofóbia
(Homophobia)
A homofób klérus
(The homophobic clergy)
Tévedésben
(In error)
A különbözőséghez való jog
(Right to diversity)
Hol a melegség mostanában?
Date of publishing
18.07.2008.
04.09.2009.
19.11.2004.
07.08.2009.
12.12.2008.
19.03.2010.
16.02.2001.
06.12.2002.
29.08.2008.
04.06.2004.
26.07.2002.
EU;)
(2 articles)
Hungarian Internal Affairs
(7 articles)
Science
(4 articles)
Sociology
(2 articles)
Medicine (AIDS)
(2 articles)
Religion
(3 articles)
Christianity, Judaism, Islam Religion,
and Evangelism
(3 articles)
Culture
(15 articles)
Literature and critics (Books)
(3 articles)
(Where are gays nowadays?)
Választás, sajtó és egy
hipotézis
(Election, Press and a
hypothesis)
Homofóbia (Homophobia)
Egy meleg nyári délután
(On a hot Summer afternoon)
Lejtmenetben
(In a slope march)
”Ez a csoport mindig az, amit
mondanak neki: ha kell homofób,
ha kell antiszemita”
(”This group is always the
one, that said to be: if necessary,
homophobic, if necessary, antisemite”)
Búcsú az SZDSZ-től
(Farewell from the SZDSZ)
Tévedésben
(In error)
A ”gyűlölködő melegségről”
(About ”the rancorous gay
community”)
19.11.2004.
16.02.2001.
18.07.2008.
25.07.2008.
20.07.2007.
07.08.2009.
29.08.2008.
20.07.2001.
”Ez a csoport mindig az, amit
mondanak neki: ha kell homofób,
ha kell antiszemita”
(”This group is always the
one, that said to be: if necessary,
homophobic, if necessary, antisemite”)
A különbözőséghez való jog
(Right to diversity)
Homofóbia (Homophobia)
A homofób klérus
(The homophobic clergy)
20.07.2007.
A homofób klérus
(The homophobic clergy)
Magyar melegnek lenni
(Being Hungarian Gay)
Isten akarata
(The will of God)
06.12.2002.
„Egyszerre beszélni
politikáról és irodalomról”
(”Speaking about politics and
04.06.2004.
16.02.2001.
06.12.2002.
04.09.2009.
26.06.2002.
02.07.2004.
Television
(TV series)
(2 articles)
Printed Press
(2 articles)
Cultural Festival
(7 articles)
Entertainement
(1 article)
literature at the same time”)
Nem más ez a szerelem
(Not else, this is love)
Mi a meleg irodalom és
irodalomkritika?
(What do we mean on gay
literature and critics?)
A homofób klérus
(The homophobic clergy)
Buzi-e (Cigány-e, Zsidó-e)
vagy?
(Are you Gay (Gypsy,
Jewish)?)
Egy meleg nyári délután
(On a hot Summer afternoon)
Választás, sajtó és egy
hipotézis
(Election, Press and a
hypothesis)
Egy meleg nyári délután
(On a hot Summer afternoon)
Magyar melegnek lenni
(Being Hungarian Gay)
”Ez a csoport mindig az, amit
mondanak neki: ha kell homofób,
ha kell antiszemita”
(”This group is always the
one, that said to be: if necessary,
homophobic, if necessary, antisemite”)
Tévedésben
(In error)
Bekerítettek
(Closed in on)
Melegek, Sziget,
Tudományfilozófia
(Gays, Sziget /festival/,
Scientific philosophy)
Dal köszöntse?
(Greet with song?)
Melegfront
(Gayfront)
01.08.2003.
30.03.2001.
06.12.2002.
01.12.2006.
18.07.2008.
19.11.2004.
18.07.2008.
04.09.2009.
20.07.2007.
29.08.2008.
25.07.2008.
20.07.2001.
09.05.2008.
11.01.2002.
Table V: Articles of Figyelő
Political Commitment: Conservative Centre-left
Examined period: 2001-20th August 2010-09-11
Number of relevant articles: 20 articles
Thematic groups of Gayness
Themes
Law
(3 articles)
Franchise (Civil rights, Registered
Common- Law Marriage, Adoption)
(3 articles)
Politics
(4 articles)
Hungarian Internal Affairs
(4 articles)
Science
(5 articles)
Genetics
(1 article)
Futurology
(1 article)
Linguistics
(1 article)
Medicine (AIDS)
(2 articles)
Religion
(1 article)
Christianity, Judaism, Islam Religion,
and Evangelism
(1 article)
Title of the article
Date of publishing
Tolerancia próba (Tolerance
02-08.08.2007.
Ennyire volt támogatásom
(I got support at this rate)
Szingli szülők (Single parents)
31.01.2008.
Ennyire volt támogatásom
(I got support at this rate)
A melegfelvonuláson (At the
Gay Pride)
Bozóki András: Tartják az új
irányt
(Bozóki András: Keeping the
new deal)
Monyon le és föl (Call off and
up)
31.01.2008.
Eltérített nemek (Deflected
genders)
08.11.2007.
Kezünkben a holnap
(Tomorrow is in our hand)
Torontáli Zoltán: A nyelv nem
genetika
(Torontáli Zoltán: Language is
not genetics)
A melegfelvonuláson (At the
Gay Pride)
Doktor Dizőz (Doctor
Diseuse)
08.05.2008.
Csitító szó jobbra, balra (Easen
words to the right, to the left)
20.04.2006.
test)
27.07.2006.
19.07.2007.
18.06.2009.
31.07.2008.
24.06.2010.
19.07.2007.
31.05.-06.06.2007.
Culture
(15 articles)
Film
(1 article)
Radio
(1 article)
Television (TV series)
(3 articles)
Printed Press
(2 articles)
Internet
(News Portals)
(1 article)
Theatre
(1 article)
Music
(1 article)
Cultural festival
(2 articles)
Entertainement
(3 articles)
Az illúzió legyen veled!
(Illusion be with you!)
17.05.2007.
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Másokk – Kisebbségek a
tömegkultúrában (Others Minorities in the public culture)
Felismeretlenség
(Homoszexuális fogyasztói
célközönség)
(Homosexual consumer target
audience)
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Felismeretlenség
(Homoszexuális fogyasztói
célközönség)
(Homosexual consumer target
audience)
02-08.08.2007.
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Rudolf és Adolf (Rudolph and
Adolph)
2-8.08.2007.
Új superband a popiparban
(New superband in the pop
industry)
Tolerancia próba (Tolerance
test)
A melegfelvonuláson (At the
Gay Pride)
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Felismeretlenség
(Homoszexuális fogyasztói
célközönség)
(Homosexual consumer target
audience)
18.06.2010.
02-08.08.2007.
08-14.07.2004.
11-17.08.2005.
2-8.08.2007.
11-17.08.2005.
15.06.2006.
2-8.08.2007.
19.07.2007.
2-8.08.2007.
11-17.08.2005.
Economy
(Economic potential; Business
Culture; Marketing; Spending Power)
(4 articles)
Doktor Dizőz (Doctor
Diseuse)
Nem téma –
Másság a cégeknél
(Not an issue –
Diversity at the workplace
31.05.-06.06.2007.
Rózsaszín erő – Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink Power – Economic
Potential)
Szivárványszínben – Másság a
munkahelyen
(In rainbow colours - Diversity
at the workplace)
Felismeretlenség
(Homoszexuális fogyasztói
célközönség)
(Homosexual consumer target
audience)
2-8.08.2007.
2-8.08.2007.
20.05.2010.
11-17.08.2005.
Table VI: Articles of Heti Válasz
Political Commitment: Conservative Centre-right
Examined period: 13th April 2001 – 20th August 2010
Number of relevant articles: 36 articles
Thematic groups of Gayness
Themes
Law
(7 articles)
Franchise (Civil rights, Registered
Common- Law Marriage, Adoption)
(5 articles)
Human Rights
(2 articles)
Politics
(12 articles)
International internal affairs (US;
EU;)
(9 articles)
Hungarian Internal Affairs
(3 articles)
Title of the article
Date of publishing
Melegfront (Gay front)
31.03.2005.
Páratlan Páros (Odd couple)
Homoszexualitás és elfojtás
(Homosexuality and repression)
Cserebere, fogadom…
(Swapping, I lay a bet…)
Hideget, meleget (Now hot
now cold)
Elmaradt a morális újrakezdés
(The leeway of the moral resumption
Gyurcsány a
homoszexualitásról: a szerelem
(Gyurcsány about homosexuality:
Love)
29.06.2006.
07.09.2001.
Elmaradt a morális újrakezdés
(The leeway of the moral resumption
Jobbról előznek (They overtake
from the Right)
Elmaradt a morális újrakezdés
(The leeway of the moral resumption
Melegfront (Gay front)
21.12.2001.
Krisztofóbia (Christophobia)
A XX.század egyik mítosza
(One myth of the XX. century)
A sokféleség átka (The
malediction of diversity)
Meghallgatás? (Hearing?)
Nem adja fel (He does not give
it up)
Gyurcsányék is vonulnak az
Andrássy úton (Gyurcsány and his
wife also march in Andrassy Street)
Ki vagy a mennyekben? (Who
are you in heaven?)
A Vatikán feminizmusa (The
feminism of the Vatican)
16.02.2006.
29.05.2008.
09.11.2001.
24.07.2008.
21.12.2001.
01.09.2009.
13.01.2009.
21.12.2001.
31.03.2005.
04.11.2004.
18.11.2004.
23.12.2004.
05.09.2009.
10.02.2009.
12.08.2004.
Science
(6 articles)
Genetics
(2 articles)
Psychiatry
(2 articles)
Philosophy
(1 article)
Medicine (AIDS)
(1 article)
Religion
(6 articles)
Christianity, Judaism, Islam Religion,
and Evangelism
(6 articles)
Culture
(22 articles)
Literature
(books)
(4 articles)
Homoszexualitás és elfojtás
(Homosexuality and repression)
Hideget, meleget (Now hot
now cold
Homoszexualitás és elfojtás
(Homosexuality and repression)
Cserebere, fogadom…
(Swapping, I lay a bet…)
07.09.2001.
Jézussal nem lehet játszani (We
cannot play with Jesus)
09.11.2001.
Svéd szólásszabadság (Swedish
freedom of speech)
24.02.2005.
Homoszexualitás és elfojtás
(Homosexuality and repression)
Jézussal nem lehet játszani (We
cannot play with Jesus)
Svéd szólásszabadság (Swedish
freedom of speech)
A pornó kiűzése (The
expulsion of pornograghy)
A Vatikán feminizmusa (The
feminism of the Vatican)
Fel kell ébredni (Must wake up)
07.09.2001.
Kell itt valakinek félnie?
(Should anyone feel fears here?)
A sosemvolt aranykor (The
never been golden age)
Daniel Atya különös élete (The
extraordinary life of Daniel Father)
Balra húznak (Drawing on the
left)
27.07.2001.
24.07.2008.
07.09.2001.
09.11.2001.
09.11.2001.
24.02.2005.
22.07.2004.
12.08.2004.
31.10.2003.
10.11.2008.
22.04.2009.
21.11.2003.
Film
(4 articles)
Television (TV series)
(2 articles)
Radio
(1 article)
Internet
(News Portals)
(1 article)
Printed press
(2 articles)
Fashion
(1 article)
Cultural festival
(7 articles)
Félárnyék (Semi-shade)
Lejtmenet (Slope)
Férfiakt (Male nude)
A hét filmje: Elefánt (The film
of the week: Elephant)
Koppmodell (’Tapmodell)
Anyacsavar és üvegkoporsó
(Nut and glass coffin)
Rádiókritika: Melegek (m)elege
(Radio critics: beley! of gays)
Meghallgatás? (Hearing?)
08.02.2007.
13.02.2008.
12.10.2006.
13.05.2004.
The discreet charm of Le
Monde
Olvasóink írják (Written by
readers)
Koppmodell (’Tapmodell)
11.07.2003.
Kell itt valakinek félnie?
(Should anyone feel fears here?)
Álljon meg a menet! (Steady!)
Gyurcsányék is vonulnak az
Andrássy úton (Gyurcsány and his
wife also march at Andrassy Street)
Papás-mamás, félelemből?
(Daddy-Mommy, by fear?)
Megvezetve- Válasz Borókai
Gábornak (Sophistication- Answer
to Borókai Gábor)
Hideget, meleget (Now hot
now cold
A pornó kiűzése (The
expulsion of pornograghy)
27.07.2001.
23.11.2006.
23.01.2004.
22.03.2002.
18.11.2004.
25.10.2002.
23.11.2006.
10.09.2009.
05.09.2009.
19.07.2008.
09.08.2008.
24.07.2008.
22.07.2004.
Economy (economic potential)
(1 article)
Papás-mamás, félelemből?
(Daddy-Mommy, by fear?)
19.07.2008.
Table VII: Yearly distribution of the relevant articles
Year of
publication
2001
Title of
the paper
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and Literature
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Title of the
article
Cserebere,
fogadom…
(Swapping, I lay a
bet…)
Homofóbia
(Homophobia)
A ”gyűlölködő
melegségről”
(About ”the
rancorous gay
community”)
Melegek,
Sziget,
Tudományfilozófia
(Gays, Sziget
/festival/, Scientific
philosophy)
Elmaradt a
morális újrakezdés
(The leeway of the
moral resumption)
Themes of
the article
Law
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Frequency of articles
focusing on LGBT people
1 article
4 articles
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Internation
al internal affairs)
(US; EU;)
Science
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Mi a meleg
irodalom és
irodalom
kritika?
(What do we
mean on gay
literature and
critics?)
Homoszexualit
ás és elfojtás
(Homosexuality and
repression)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Jézussal nem
lehet játszani (We
cannot play with
Jesus)
Religion
2 articles
Science
1 articles
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Kell itt
valakinek félnie?
(Should anyone
feel fears here?)
Culture
∑
2002
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
2003
∑
Heti
1 articles
9 articles
Hol a
melegség
mostanában?
(Where are
gays
nowadays?)
Olvasóink
írják
(Written
by readers)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Melegfront
(Gayfront)
Science
A
homofób
klérus
(The
homophobic
clergy)
Isten
akarata
(The will
of God)
Rádiókritik
a: Melegek
(m)elege
(Radio
critics: beley! of
gays)
Science
Fel kell
2 articles
2 articles
Religion
1 article
Culture
1 article
Religion
6 articles
1 article
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
ébredni (Must
wake up)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Nem más
ez a szerelem
(Not else,
this is love)
A Le
Monde diszkrét
bája (The
discreet charm
of Le Monde)
Balra
húznak
(Drawing on
the left)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
2004
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
∑
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
”Egyszerre
beszélni
politikáról és
irodalomról”
(”Speaking
about politics
and literature at
the same time”)
Élet és
Választás,
Irodalom (Life
sajtó és egy
and
hipotézis
Literature)
(Election,
Press and a
hypothesis)
Heti
A
Válasz
sokféleség átka
(Weekly
(The
Answer)
malediction of
diversity)
Heti
Meghallgat
Válasz
ás? (Hearing?)
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Nem adja
fel (He does
not give it up)
A
Culture
3 articles
Culture
Culture
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
4 articles
5 articles
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Science
1 article
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
2005
∑
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
∑
különbözőséghez való jog
(Right to
diversity)
A pornó
kiűzése
(The
expulsion of
pornograghy)
A Vatikán
feminizmusa
(The feminism
of the Vatican)
Anyacsavar
és üvegkoporsó
(Nut and glass
coffin)
A hét
filmje: Elefánt
(The film of the
week:
Elephant)
Másokk –
Kisebbségek a
tömegkultúrába
n (Others Minorities in
the public
culture)
Melegfront
(Gay front)
Svéd
szólásszabadság
(Swedish
freedom of
speech)
Felismeretl
enség
(Homoszexuáli
s fogyasztói
célközönség)
(Homosex
ual consumer
target audience)
Religion
2 articles
Religion
Culture
3 articles
Culture
Culture
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Religion
Economy
11 articles
1 article
1 article
1 article
3 articles
2006
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
2007
∑
Figyelő
(Observer)
Páratlan
Páros (Odd
couple)
Law
Szingli
szülők (Single
parents)
Krisztofób
ia
(Christophobia)
Law
Csitító szó
jobbra, balra
(Easen words
to the right, to
the left)
Buzi-e
(Cigány-e,
Zsidó-e) vagy?
(Are you
Gay (Gypsy,
Jewish)?)
Férfiakt
(Male
nude)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Religion
Culture
1 article
1 article
4 articles
Culture
Koppmod
ell (’Tapmodell)
Culture
Rudolf és
Adolf (Rudolph
and Adolph)
Culture
Tolerancia
próba
(Tolerance test)
Élet és
Ez a
Irodalom (Life csoport mindig
and
az, amit
Literature)
mondanak neki:
ha kell
homofób, ha
kell
antiszemita”
(”This
group is always
the one, that
2 articles
Law
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
8 articles
1 article
2 articles
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
2008
∑
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
said to be: if
necessary,
homophobic, if
necessary, antisemite”)
A
melegfelvonulá
son (At the
Gay Pride)
Eltérített
nemek
(Deflected
genders)
Félárnyék
(Semi-shade)
Az illúzió
legyen veled!
(Illusion be
with you!)
Doktor
Dizőz (Doctor
Diseuse)
Nem téma
–
Másság a
cégeknél
(Not an
issue –
Diversity
at the
workplace
Rózsaszín
erő –
Gazdasági
Potenciál
(Pink
Power –
Economic
Potential)
Alkotmány
os érték-e a
melegek
autonómiája?
Külföldi példák
és tapasztalatok
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Science
1 article
Culture
3 articles
Culture
Culture
Economy
2 articles
Economy
Law
9 articles
1 article
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
(Is the
autonomy of
gay people
should be
considered as a
Constitutional
value?
Foreign
examples and
experiences)
A
XX.század
egyik mítosza
(One myth of
the XX.
century)
Lejtmenet
ben
(In a slope
march)
Egy meleg
nyári délután
(On a hot
Summer
afternoon)
Bekerítette
k
(Closed in
on)
Tévedésbe
n
(In error)
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Hideget,
meleget (Now
hot now cold)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Ennyire
volt
támogatásom
(I got
support at this
rate)
Monyon le
és föl (Call off
and up)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Dal
8 articles
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Science
2 articles
and
Literature)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
2009
∑
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
köszöntse?
(Greet
with song?)
Kezünkbe
n a holnap
(Tomorro
w is in our
hand)
Science
Lejtmenet
(Slope)
Culture
A
sosemvolt
aranykor
(The never
been golden
age)
Culture
Gyurcsány
a
homoszexualitá
sról: a szerelem
(Gyurcsány
about
homosexuality:
Love)
Jobbról
előznek (They
overtake from
the Right)
Búcsú az
SZDSZ-től
(Farewell
from the
SZDSZ)
Magyar
melegnek lenni
(Being
Hungarian
Gay)
Ki vagy a
mennyekben?
(Who are you
in heaven?)
Gyurcsány
Law
Politics
(International
internal affairs) (US;
EU)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Politics
2 articles
13 articles
1 article
7 articles
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Heti
Válasz
(Weekly
Answer)
2010
∑
Élet és
Irodalom (Life
and
Literature)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Figyelő
(Observer)
ék is vonulnak
az Andrássy
úton
(Gyurcsány and
his wife also
march in
Andrassy
Street)
Álljon meg
a menet!
(Steady!)
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Bozóki
András: Tartják
az új irányt
(Bozóki
András:
Keeping the
new deal)
Daniel
Atya különös
élete (The
extraordinary
life of Daniel
Father)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
A
gyűlöletbeszéd
liberális
felfogása (The
liberal
understanding
of the hatred
speech)
Torontáli
Zoltán: A nyelv
nem genetika
(Torontáli
Zoltán:
Language is not
genetics)
Új
superband a
popiparban
(New
superband in
the pop
industry)
Politics
(Hungarian
Internal Affairs)
Culture
1 article
Law
9 articles
1 article
Science
1 article
Culture
1 article
Figyelő
(Observer)
∑
Szivárvány
színben –
Másság a
munkahelyen
(In
rainbow
colours Diversity at the
workplace)
Economy
1 article
4 articles
Appendix VI
Table VIII: Frequency of themes in the observed media
Themes
3 articles
2 articles
Number of
relevant articles
in Élet és Irodalom
(Life and
Literature)
2 articles
13 articles
8 articles
4 articles
-
13 articles
3 articles
30 articles
11 articles
5 articles
4 articles
10 articles
19 articles
Science
1 article
3 articles
5 articles
9 articles
Religion
5 articles
1 article
1 articles
7 articles
Culture
12 articles
5 articles
2 articles
19 articles
2 articles
4 articles
-
6 articles
36 articles
19 articles
23 articles
78 articles
Law
Politics
International
internal affairs
(US; EU;)
Hungarian
Internal Affairs
Economy
(Economic
potential;
Business Culture;
Marketing;
Spending Power)
∑
Number of
relevant articles
in Heti Válasz
(Weekly Answer)
Number of
relevant articles
in Figyelő
(Observer)
∑
7 articles
Table IX: The used terminology for Gay people in the observed media
Terminology
Frequency of
the term in Heti
Frequency of
the term in
Frequency of the
term in Élet és
∑
117
One article was
significant 28#
141
373
631
227
50
144
421
15
23
2
-
14
6
6
-
59
13
4
3
88
42
12
3
6
4
8
6
9
5
3
13
2
1
2
28
6
14
11
1
6
23
39
1
1
40
1
30
Válasz (Weekly
Answer)
Meleg
(which can be
interpreted as
the Hungarian
version of gay,
with the literary
meaning warm)
Homosexuality,
homosexuals
Lesbian
Same-sex
Sexual minority
Homokos
(Cream-puff)
Otherness
Bisexual
Transexual
Transzvesztita
(Crossdresser)
Buzi (Faggot)
Butch
LMBT (LGBT)
Figyelő
(Observer)
Irodalom (Life
and Literature)
Appendix VII
Interview questions for well-known Gay people:
1. Why do you consider important to undertake your sexual identity in public? At what age
did you make this decision?
2. Have you had any negative experience or have you met with atrocity for the sake of your
sexual identity? Could you mention positive examples as well?
3. Depending on the answer got for the previous question: In the viewpoint of your career,
has your sexual identity meant any obstacles, or rather, has it promoted your
improvement?
4. In your opinion, has the homophobic view of the Hungarian society changed, and has it
become more tolerant during the last 5 years?
5. According to you, does the printed press –as a social opinion-shaper medium - encourage
the social acceptance of gay people, or rather; does it render the process more difficult?
6. In which concern do you see the significance of the yearly Budapest Pride? Does it
important to sustain it and why?
7. If we consider the Gay community as a sexual minority, in your opinion how can we
encourage cultural modernization that involves the acceptance of minorities?