US Ambassador to Hungary slams Viktor Orbán

David Pressman, the openly gay U.S. ambassador to Hungary had harsh words for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at a Pride event. The speech came after the cancellation of an event about human rights scheduled to take place at the parliament building.

On Saturday, the ambassador to Hungary held a family Pride event at his home. During his speech, Pressman slammed Orbán and his government for using a “machinery of fear” as an apparatus to crush the LGBTQ community, according to the Guardian. He shared a story of how the country’s state-run media implied that he was a danger to children.

“At a Pride march organised by Hungarians in Pécs last year, I walked alongside a friend, fellow ambassador, and fellow parent,” Pressman said. “The cameras of the government-controlled media were trained on me – as they are right now – and filmed us as he introduced me to his 5-year-old child.

“The news that evening reported on ‘spotting’ my interaction with this child, and sinisterly described that I was seen ‘interacting with children’. They didn’t need to finish the sentence – they let fear do the rest.”

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The ambassador to Hungary had prepared the speech for a planned LGBTQ human rights event on June 21 at the parliament building. The event had been planned by Dávid Bedő, the chairman of the centrist opposition party, Momentum, according to The Daily Beast. Bedő had put in a request for the event, which was to take place in a meeting room, not on the floor of the parliament.

The speaker of the parliament, László Kövér, ignored the request until pressed. The day before the event was scheduled, Kövér denied the request, citing a bylaw that said the speaker must “protect the dignity of the parliament.” Kövér is one of the co-founders with Orbán of the far-right Fidesz party.

This Saturday was Budapest Pride, according to Pink News. The march brought out over 30,000 people, including Pressman. Homosexuality is technically legal in Hungary, but in 2021, Orbán’s government passed a law similar to Russia’s ban on LGBTQ “propaganda.” In the face of sanctions from the EU, Orbán refused to relent.

Two years ago, Orbán attended CPAC, the Conservative Political Action Conference, in Texas. His speech condemned the LGBTQ community.

“Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as a union of one man and one woman,” he said at the time. “Family ties shall be based on marriage or the relationship between parents and children. To sum up, the mother is a woman. The father is a man. And leave our kids alone. Full stop. End of discussion.”