Social visibility of Gay people in Hungary: Action, Construction in Media and Society

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.