Eurovision is one of the most wonderful times of the year, and even though I’m still kinda confused about our participation in it, I’m 100% on board with all the chaos. Hungary has decided that the chaos is a bit too much for them though, and have pulled out of next year’s contest.
Where it gets particularly dicey is that, while the Hungarian government hasn’t given a reason for pulling out, it’s assumed that they’ve bailed because of homophobia.
Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, comes from a far-right party who has seen a major rise in homophobia while his party has been in power. This year alone, the speaker of Hungarian parliament compared same sex couples adopting kids to paedophilia, and one of the country’s pre-government commentators called Eurovision “a homosexual flotilla” that harms the nation’s mental health.
Even The European Union’s chief negotiator got involved, tweeting that “Even Putin shows more restraint in his homophobia. It’s an attack on our European way of life and it must stop.”
Hungary, for their part, are making a point of telling anyone who will listen that it’s not because of homophobia, but they still won’t actually give a reason for pulling out. A government spokesperson did call it all fake news though, which is always a fun phrase to have floating around.
Eurovision has a long and inextricable history with the LGBT community, and just this year the host donated his performance fee to an LGBT youth charity.
Hungary can insist forever that the reasons behind them pulling out of the competition aren’t homophobic, but until they give an actual reason, we’re left to speculate. It’s not just me with suspicions, it seems to be basically everyone hearing the news.
So in honour of Hungary’s government, I hope Eurovision 2020 is the most sparkly and flamboyant one yet.
