Pressman Outraged over House Speaker Barring Left's LGBTQ Conference from Parliament

The political parties DK, MSZP, Momentum and Dialogue wanted to hold a conference Tuesday afternoon in the Hungarian Parliament building on LGBTQ issues, but House Speaker Laszlo Kover refused permission on the grounds of protecting the prestige of the institution. According to David Pressman, the US Ambassador to Budapest, the US government has repeatedly expressed concern about the threats to Hungarian democracy, and this decision adds to those concerns.

US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman (Photo: Laszlo Laufer/Dunantuli Naplo)

DK, MSZP, Momentum and Dialogue would have held a conference in the National Assembly building on the situation of the Hungarian LGBTQ community, but Laszlo Kover denied them the greenlight.

Hungary's House Speaker Laszlo Kover refused to grant a venue for the LGBTQ conference, citing the need to protect the prestige of the National Assembly Photo: MTI/Szilard Koszticsak 

The opposition parties hosting the event had sent out invitations to several ambassadors to Budapest, as well as to participants in an informal meeting of European affairs ministers being held in Budapest. The conference was held on Tuesday in the Nador Street building of the Central European University (CEU) and was attended by David Pressman, the US ambassador to Budapest, together with several other ambassadors.

David Pressman is very concerned about Hungary's democracy

“It is beyond extraordinary to see elected members of a European Union member state’s parliament denied access to parliament itself because they wish to discuss human rights. Denying a meeting space within the parliament to elected representatives of that body raises serious and concerning questions,” Ambassador Pressman reacted. In his statement, he stressed that

members of Hungary’s Parliament who formed a parliamentary group focused on LGBTQI+ rights, had now twice been denied access to the building in order to conduct official business. 

He also pointed out that the meeting of parliamentarians wanting to discuss LGBTQI+  rights had to be moved to a local university "given Speaker Kover's decision to block their access to an institution designed to represent the interests of all Hungarians". David Pressman also noted that the US government has repeatedly expressed concern about the threats to Hungary's democracy, adding

Today’s actions depriving elected members of parliament access to the institution to which they were elected heightens those concerns.

Four days before the event, the speaker of the National Assembly responded to the chamber request made by DK President Ferenc Gyurcsany at the end of July. "I would like to inform you that I am not in a position to fulfill your hall request for September 3, 2024, in view of my obligation under Article 2 (1) of Act XXXVI of 2012," Laszlo Kover wrote. According to the provisions in the stipulated paragraph, the Speaker is responsible for ensuring the National Assembly's exercise of its rights, the safeguarding of its authority, maintaining its order and security and coordinating its work.

Cover photo: US Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman (Photo: Laszlo Laufer/Dunantuli Naplo).