Pressman poses on replica of 9th district LGBTQ bench

The latest stunt of the so-called bench-gate came from the US ambassador to Budapest.

Fotó: Janka Szitas

US Ambassador David Pressman has logged into Facebook from his official residence while sitting on a bench similar to the rainbow bench on display in the 9th district of Budapest. The rainbow bench has received plenty of attention, as in the past few days it was repainted in different colors on many occasions.

– Now, as Hungary's leaders are calling for new legislation to “protect children,” as books are wrapped in cellophane, as bookstores are fined for displaying books, as rainbow benches are defaced – now is the right time for the United States to celebrate LGBT families in Hungary by hosting what I am told is one of the largest LGBT gatherings outside of Budapest Pride and the largest LGBT family gathering in Hungary’s history, Mr Pressman says in his post. The ambassador compared the creators of the book Fairyland is For Everyone to (Hungarian political reformer) Lajos Kossuth, and renowned poet Sandor Petofi.

As is known, US Ambassador David Pressman hosted around a thousand people, including several left-wing politicians, for a family pride picnic at his residence on Zugligeti Road, to mark the end of Pride Month.

The largest contingent among his guests was made up of Momentum's representatives led by MEP Katalin Cseh, but opposition politicians Gergely Arato, Bence Tordai and Timea Szabo were also spotted in the crowd. Actor Krisof Steiner and fashion designer Mark Lakatos were also among the guests. They were joined by YouTuber Edina Pottyondy, but Krisztian Nyary - the creative director of the recently fined Líra Group, a book distribution company - also showed up at the gathering. 444.hu says there were many kids playing in the backyard at the pride event.

As Magyar Nemzet highlighted in a previous article, besides Budapest Mayor Gergely Karacsony and other left-wing politicians, US Ambassador David Pressman was also present at Saturday's Budapest Pride Parade, waving a US flag. At the opening event of the so-called Pride Month, he delivered a highly controversial political speech riddled with personal motifs, and offensive in nature.

In our earlier piece, we made mention of the fact that Budapest's first publicly displayed rainbow bench - in downtown Tompa Street - was unveiled by Amnesty International and the 9th District Municipality.

It, however, did not manage to preserve its original state for long, as it was repainted green and white by Fradi ultras (fans of the Ferencvaros football team - ed.) after a few days. Later, the George Soros funded Amnesty International Hungary was happy to announce on Facebook that they had kept their promise and repainted the Tompa Street bench, back to its original rainbow colorways. They said they did this "for all those who want to live together with us in an open, free and happy country," asking people to take good care of the bench. Amnesty has also filed a police report on the matter, saying the bench is a symbol that needs to be protected collectively. The ill-fated bench was later repainted in the national colors of red, white and green by the opposition Our Homeland Movement, only to display its traditional brown-colored wooden planks and black railings for a short while afterwards. 

And finally, last Friday, the Tompa street bench was removed by staff from the 9th district municipality. Ms Baranyi, the mayor of 9th district explained that it had been damaged by the many recoatings. It will soon be repaired and repainted, in line with the request of the winner of a tender.

Cover photo: US Ambassador David Pressman (Photo: Facebook)