So Hungarian politics have been shit for most of my life. For the past 16 years we had the same party in power and their rule has been described as authoritarian, anti-democratic and a model/ inspiration for right wing parties globally ( for things like Project 2025). Beside the many horrible things they did, they also villainised migrants, lgbtq+ people, and were pretty often antisemitic.
And I thought I was numb to all of this. I have friends who have been in long term queer relationships and could only imagine getting married in Austria or France. And that was normal for us. We discussed all kinds of horrible circumstances, what if Hungary leaves the EU, what if we side with Russia, what if they make harsher rules against queer people. We were just going to deal with it and keep on living, move away, get out, get through it, find a way.
Then we had an election this year and after 16 years they finally lost. And I was so relieved and happy. My father opened champagne. There were people dancing in the streets. It was a great day to be Hungarian.
But i didn’t cry. Not until yesterday, watching the inauguration for the new government, where an openly lesbian hungarian-romani woman sang her most famous song that she said she’d never perform again. The song’s titled Magyarország ( Hungary), and it’s a patriotic one ( which I’m not but I don’t hate this song). She stopped performing it because she faced racist attacks for it, and because she lost hope in its message and in the country. But yesterday she sang it on the steps of our Parliament and yeah I’m sobbing.
