SPÖ Member of Parliament Lindner Travels to Forbidden Budapest Pride
National Council members Mario Lindner (SPÖ) and David Stögmüller (Greens) publicly announced their participation in the event on Tuesday. Lindner emphasized that he is organizing a solidarity trip to Budapest Pride on June 28, "which will take place despite Orban's bans".
Later, Stögmüller also emphasized that he, together with colleagues, will "send a clear and indispensable signal of solidarity with the Hungarian LGBTIQ community" on site. The two members of parliament belong to the steering group of the LGBTIQ Intergroup in the Austrian Parliament, which was newly constituted last week. All parliamentary parties are represented in it, except for the FPÖ, which supports the Hungarian government's actions against the LGBTIQ+ community.
The right-conservative government of the EU member state is trying to suppress the traditional event of the LGBTIQ+ community under the pretext of child protection. After the assembly law was already amended accordingly last month, this was reinforced yesterday, Monday, with a constitutional amendment. This also includes the stipulation that there are only two genders in Hungary - male and female.
Lindner plans to travel to banned Budapest Pride
Lindner criticized the constitutional amendment as a "new low point in the international cultural struggle against diverse, open democracies". The human rights-hostile constitutional amendments on the backs of LGBTIQ+ people "are intended to distract from the economic failure of Orban's autocratic course and are a terrible expression of the sheer panic of the Hungarian wannabe-Trump in the face of declining approval ratings and an increasingly popular opposition," commented the SPÖ's spokesperson for equality and LGBTIQ+ issues.
Stögmüller expressed a similar sentiment, criticizing the "inhumane criticism at the expense of queer people" by Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán. Orbán "impressively shows that he does not care about human rights. We must not remain silent here. Now, above all, international support is needed for all those who show courage in Hungary and defend their rights."
Lindner and Stögmüller also sharply criticized the FPÖ, whose General Secretary Christian Hafenecker had welcomed the anti-queer measures of the Orbán government. "Anyone who says something like this openly questions the human rights of minorities. The FPÖ once again shows that it stands against democracy and clearly on the side of authoritarian forces," stated the Green politician. His SPÖ colleague also sees evidence that "Kickl and his cronies (...) want to advance the Orbanization of Austria." "Apart from culture wars and Orban fangirling, the FPÖ has nothing to offer," said Lindner.
Hafenecker: "Step that would also benefit Austria"
FPÖ General Secretary Christian Hafenecker had welcomed the Hungarian constitutional amendment on Monday as an "important sign of normality and a rejection of the left-woke rainbow ideology." It is a "step that would also benefit Austria, but is not to be expected from the left-leaning loser traffic light coalition."
The criticism that Pride parades can no longer take place is "hypocritical" and "self-revealing outrage," said the National Council member. On the subject of gender, he referred to statistical data, according to which in January "only 74 people" in Austria described their gender as diverse, intersex, or open. "The remaining approximately 9.2 million inhabitants are male or female - that is the normality, which is even enshrined in the ORF law," the representative of the largest parliamentary party expressed skepticism towards minority rights.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.