Gay US ambassador denounces Hungary’s “machinery of fear” during Pride Month

The U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, stood up against far-right prime minister Viktor Orbán in a moving and personal speech about the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric he and the rest of the queer community is victim to.

Speaking at a Pride event at his residence in Budapest, Pressman said, “Fear is something those who seek to undermine democracy trade on, and their currency is too often you and your families.”

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Pressman condemned Orbán’s government for negatively portraying those who speak out against it.

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“What much of the democratic world saw as a cautionary tale, Hungary’s government seems to have embraced as a model,” he said, referring to Russia’s attacks on democratic norms. “Hungary created its own NGO ‘Foreign Funding’ Law. Its own ‘gay propaganda’ law. Its own so-called ‘Sovereignty Protection Office.’ And Hungary has wasted little time putting this machinery of fear to use.”

“When a popular musician or social media influencer urges the people of Hungary to vote, they are a pedophile or a pervert,” he said. “When political opposition leaders exhort citizens to support alternative policies, they are mentally unstable agents of a foreign power. When people stand with a war’s victims, they are the aggressors.”

“These attacks – whether legal, rhetorical, or reputational – erode the liberties of the Hungarian people, of the Hungarian soul. Whenever politicians anywhere seek to profit by twisting love into hate; integrity into depravity; those who stand up for peace as advocating for more war – we must pay attention.”

Pressman is a gay man and is raising two children with his partner in Hungary. It’s not the first time he has clashed with Prime Minister Orbán. On X in 2022, Orbán asked where his “good friend Donald Trump was” when he joined the platform. Pressman retorted, “Welcome to Twitter, @PM_ViktorOrban! While you look around for your friend, perhaps another friend to follow: the President of the United States, @POTUS… but as the Hungarian media might say: no pressure.”

Pressman pointed out that originally, he was going to give his speech in Hungary’s parliament building but he was prevented from doing so by a senior member of Orbán’s party.

“The speaker denied the parliamentarians’ request to host an event on human rights in parliament – a space that is meant to represent all Hungarians,” Pressman said.

Pressman shared an anecdote about a time when he was the victim of Hungary’s state-owned media perpetuating anti-gay sentiment.

“At a Pride march organized 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 five-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.”

Queer Hungarians face marginalization, both legally and socially. In 2021, a law banning LGBTQ+ material in schools or kids’ television was passed. Same-sex couples in Hungary are also not eligible for all of the same legal rights available to heterosexual ones.

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