Things may soon get hairy for Hungary’s homos.
A little over a month after right-wingers stunk up gay pride, freshly formed paramilitary group Magyar Garda inducted its first members.
Founded by Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona, Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard) promises to provide a “true transition,” which, judging from their anti-gay, anti-Roma, anti-Jew stance, won’t bode well for the European nation.
Speaking outside Budapest’s presidential capital yesterday, Vona vowed, “The Hungarian Guard has been set up in order to carry out the real change of regime and to rescue Hungarians.” The real change, critics say, may be the long-term side effects.
Sociology professor Zoltan Fleck remarks:
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
If the Magyar Guard manages to legitimize itself over the longer term… more such groups will be formed and it will cause a strong fear in the public in a young democracy which still needs to be developed rather than challenged.
The guard may not need to legitimize itself – Jobbik’s already aligned with other right-leaning parties. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany also expressed his frustration:
When those who establish a paramilitary organiZation are ones who … at times actively seek to make Hungary a place where prejudice and fear reign instead of peace and understanding, then we must act with special prudence.
Gyurcsany now asking the government’s prosecutors to keep a watchful eye on The Guard. No doubt gay activists will, too…
Bill Perdue
It’s no surprise that the former Stalinist states of Eastern Europe and the USSR are breeding grounds for fascism. The treacherous Stalinist regimes were run by reactionary thugs who could hardly pose as a feasible alternative to fascism.
Stalinism left the natural opponents of fascism – trade unions, gays and lesbians, minority ethnic groups, etc. – politically disarmed and demoralized.
Now that Hungarian fascists have thrown down the gauntlet, that will have to change. The liberal government, like their predecessors in nations challenged by aggressive fascism, will simply bury its head in the sand and limit their response to bleating and whining. In the last decade the German skinhead/fascist movement has killed many and the number of beatings and physical attacks is past counting. Gays and lesbians are among those targeted.
This has unfolded under SPD and CDU governments. Just last week several Indian nationals were attacked. As Der Spiegel puts it “The attack on eight Indian men in the eastern German town of Mügeln on August 18 has triggered the usual soul-searching about the causes of right-wing extremism. But the debate usually subsides after a few weeks, leaving anti-Nazi campaigners and foreigners in eastern Germany to struggle on their own.” Der Spiegel went on to say, “Anything is possible, as was the case in the past after attacks in Guben, Potsdam, Pretzien, Leipzig and Halberstadt. The wave of public sentiment is, most of all, an expression of one thing: the helplessness of government leaders.”
We cannot count on these governments but must rely on ourselves and our allies to build a movement to defend against these swine. The consequences of not doing so are well known.
The key elements for isolating and disarming the fascists are well known. Primary among them is political unity based on the solitary goal of defeating fascists. The constituent elements of these coalitions won’t agree on all issues but have to agree on stopping fascism because it’s a matter of life and death.
They’ll have to expect the worst because fascists have contempt for constitutional and legal restrictions. The formation and use of union based defensive militias will soon take the wind out of fascist sails. The coalition members will have to adhere to the principle of ‘An injury to one is an injury to all.’ as if their lives depended – they do. They’ll need the help and support of trade unionists, gays and lesbians, etc., especially from EU nations, to lay a heavy hand on the fascists when they start their campaigns of beatings, murders and intimidation.