2014 Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst – Photo: Albin Olsson, via Wikimedia.
Hungary has pulled out of the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest due to the contest’s LGBTQ-friendly nature and encouragement of LGBTQ representation.
While no official reason was given for the withdrawal, sources within Hungary’s state-owned public broadcaster MTVA believe the decision is due to a rise in homophobic rhetoric stemming from the Hungarian government’s right-wing lurch and its emphasis on promoting traditional values.
In previous years, MTVA hosted its own song contest, with the winner going on to represent Hungary in the continent-wide contest. But last month, the broadcaster announced that the country’s in-house contest would instead focus on the hit of the year.
That announcement was considered a signal that Hungary was planning not to compete in the upcoming 2020 contest, something confirmed last week when the list of competing countries was released.
A source at MTVA told The Guardian that staff believe the decision to withdraw from the contest was due to Eurovision’s pro-LGBTQ attitudes, which conflict with MTVA’s policy of discouraging positive coverage or portrayals of LGBTQ individuals or LGBTQ rights.
That follows a report by Hungarian website index.hu last week that claimed Hungary had withdrawn because Eurovision was perceived as “too gay,” and that a pro-government commentator had even called Eurovision a “homosexual flotilla.”
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has denied those claims, but has not offered any other explanation.
However, Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party has made its stance against homosexuality and embrace of “traditional values” well known. Orbán has even initiated a “family first” policy to incentivize marriage and childbearing in an effort to boost birth rates as the country’s population continues to decline.
Other government officials have not been shy in expressing their contempt for homosexuality. Earlier this year, László Kövér, the speaker of the Hungarian parliament, compared same-sex adoption to pedophilia.
Deputy Speaker István Boldog called for a boycott of Coca-Cola after the company launched an advertising campaign for a local music festival using photographs of a gay couple.
This is not the first time that Eurovision has been criticized for its LGBTQ-friendly nature.
In 2014, a Russian legislator attempted — and failed — to cancel the broadcast in Russia on the grounds that it “propagandizes homosexuality,” thus putting it into conflict with Russia’s controversial anti-gay propaganda law.
Russian politicians also went into an uproar after Conchita Wurst, an Austrian singer and drag queen, won Eurovision that same year, with some politicians calling for a boycott of the contest for promoting homosexuality or portraying it in a favorable light.
Despite that bluster, Hungary’s withdrawal is the first time a country has pulled out over social issues. Some have withdrawn over financial worries or geopolitical issues, only to return later.
Now in its 65th year, the 2020 contest will be hosted in Amsterdam and feature 41 countries, including Bulgaria and Ukraine, who are returning after a one-year hiatus.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs the contest, told The Guardian that “it is not uncommon for EBU members to have breaks in participation in the Eurovision song contest.”
Two college students in Indonesia have been sentenced to be publicly caned for engaging in same-sex relations.
The couple, aged 24 and 18, were arrested on November 7, 2024, after neighborhood vigilantes in the city of Banda Aceh, who suspected them of being gay, broke into their rented room to find them naked and hugging each other.
The lead judge, Sakwanah, said that the two students were "legally and convincingly" proven to have had gay sex -- which is forbidden under Sharia law -- and would thus be caned, receiving 85 and 80 lashes, respectively.
"During the trial it was proven that the defendants committed illicit acts, including kissing and having sex," she said. "As Muslims, the defendants should uphold the Sharia law that prevails in Aceh."
"This is about coming back home for me," Evan Low says of his new role as president and CEO of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund and LGBTQ+ Victory Institute.
"Victory endorsed me as a candidate when I was 20 years old for City Council, back in 2004," the former California State Assemblymember says.
"I lost that first election, but Victory was there for me to help pick me up, catch me, and push me right along. I ran the next cycle, and I was successful at 23 years old. Victory helped invest in me to make me become the youngest openly LGBT Mayor at that time back in 2009."
At Apple's annual meeting on February 25, an overwhelming percentage of shareholders rejected a proposal to scrap the tech giant's diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, a right-wing think tank that has been leading the charge against DEI policies in the corporate sphere, submitted a proposal demanding Apple scuttle its DEI programs and initiatives.
NCPPR frequently claims that DEI initiatives are inherently racist, discriminating against whites, males, and other groups by elevating racial minorities and members of historically marginalized groups.
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