Hungary has lost its colours and its government its moral scruples. LGBT people are now undesirable under the constitution
The grey cubes are rolled...
But this change didn't come suddenly. The Hungarian government led by Viktor Orbán has been preparing the ground for this move for a long time. First, adoptions by same-sex couples were banned. Then came making it impossible for trans people to legally change their gender. Then came the ban on LGBT-themed educational material in schools. And now? A constitutional ban on public existence.
The government calls it "protecting children" but in their minds this protection is not happening in playgrounds or daycare centers, but in paragraphs that simply bully minorities. Under the guise of safety for some, the basic rights of others are being denied. And that is never a good thing. But children don't need to grow up in silence and fear. They need to grow up in truth - and in an environment where they see that being different is not a reason to be ashamed or afraid, because that is where the real danger lies.
But the public response to the new law was unexpectedly strong. A "Grey Pride" directed by the satirical Two-Tailed Dog Party took place in Budapest. Thousands of people dressed in grey clothes and carried banners such as "Unity is trendy" or "Censorship is cool". It was a sarcastic but completely accurate portrayal of the reality that the Orbán government is slowly creating. A world where no one stands out. A world without individuality, without otherness, without colour. A world where insolence is severely punished.
Although the law is now part of the constitution, the organisers of Budapest Pride have not given up. They have announced that the march will go ahead anyway, despite the best efforts of the authorities. The mayor of the city, Gergely Karácsony, expressed his clear support for this. "Pride will be. And it will be bigger than ever," he said.
At this point, as a society, we should not remain silent. Not when constitutional changes go directly against the very existence of the community whose stories, dreams and pains we chart in our magazine literally every day. Not when the state is using facial recognition technology to track who stands in a march for equality. Not when the law wants to decide what is love, identity or family.
This is not really just a problem in Hungary. It is a warning to us all. Because once we get used to grey, it can start to feel normal. The world is coloured and that's the only way it's okay.
