Germany sends a clear message to the Hungarians! Allianz Arena will be lit up in rainbow colours

On Tuesday 15 June, Hungary entered the European Championship with its first match. But on the same day, the Hungarian parliament passed legislation banning any promotion of the LGBT community. The move has been widely criticised and Germany is also planning to send a clear message.

Hungary does not exactly have the best reputation in Europe. There are several reasons for this, particularly extreme nationalism, quite common racism and discrimination against the LGBT community.

In particular, discrimination against the LGBT community reached a new level quite recently when legislation was passed which prohibits the distribution of material depicting or promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment among young people under the age of 18.

However, the legislation also contains amendments that prohibit the depiction of sexual orientation other than heterosexual in school programmes, films or advertisements targeted at minors. The government hopes to achieve healthy physical and mental development of children by taking this step.

However, the move has been criticised not only in Hungary but also abroad. In particular, in Germany, which condemns nationalism and all manifestations of hatred or discrimination against minorities.

Even football clubs in Germany regularly fight against discrimination, as does the national team. For example, Manuel Neuer, the goalkeeper against both Portugal and France, captained the match wearing rainbow colours to show his support for the LGBT community.

And when Munich’s Allianz Arena hosts Germany’s match against Hungary on Wednesday, he may well send a clear message to Hungarians.

In fact, Munich city councillors have put forward a proposal to light up the Allianz Arena in rainbow colours in the Bavarian capital.

“Munich supports diversity, tolerance and equality in sport and society. The council wishes to send a visible message of solidarity to the LGBT community in Hungary, which is discriminated against by recently passed legislation,” reads the proposal from all six factions of Munich’s city council.

According to the councillors, the rule of law is systematically restricted in Hungary, and the same is true for fundamental human freedoms. The law also violates the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. And it violates even more.

It should be mentioned that even the Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, who plays for RB Leipzig at club level, recently expressed his support for same-sex marriage.

However, this means nothing in Hungary. In fact, ultra-right-wing groups who make no secret of their anti-Semitic and racist attitudes and opinions attend Euro matches.

In both matches hosted by Budapest, the sectors behind the goal were occupied by the so-called Carpathian Brigade, a neo-Nazi ultras group that sang chants against the LGBT community in the stadium. There were also banners criticising the kneeling of the footballers.

The behaviour of Hungarian fans at both matches is already under investigation by UEFA.

Source: DW