Duncan Laurence, the winner of Eurovision 2019, has stated that he will not perform in Hungary following the passing of anti-LGBT laws there.
In an interview with Peter Van de Veire, VRT’s Eurovision commentator, on Belgian radio station MNM, Duncan, who is openly bisexual, said that he will no longer perform in Hungary after the passing of anti-LGBT laws.
“I find what is happening in Hungary horrible. You don’t choose your sexuality and to discriminate based on that is not okay.
If you want to accept who you are, surround yourself with people who love you and get out of that country. I wouldn’t perform there again. That is of course very difficult, because there are people who would find support from me being there. If a country goes against human rights in this way, you have to take a clear statement.”
The Hungarian parliament passed a law yesterday banning LGBT people from featuring in school educational materials or TV shows for under-18s. The legislation outlaws sharing information with under-18s that the government considers to be promoting homosexuality or gender change. Companies and large organisations will also be banned from running adverts in solidarity with LGBT people, if they are deemed to target under-18s. Any TV shows or films featuring LGBT characters, or even a rainbow flag, would be permitted only after 22:00. Opponents of this law have likened this new legislation to the “gay propaganda” law that was enacted in Russia in 2013 and say that it will increase hostility and violence against LGBT people.
In recent years, LGBT rights have been severely reduced in Hungary; including a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in January 2012, a ban on adoption by same-sex couples in November 2020 and a ban recognition of legal gender change in March 2020. There have been increasing calls for the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, to raise the issue of the rule of law in the country during a meeting of EU leaders in Luxembourg next week and to issue sanctions against them.
Image Source: Eurovision.tv – Thomas Hanses / Source: MNM, The Guardian