THE NETHERLANDS – In an interview with Belgian radio, 2019 Eurovision winner, Duncan Laurence said that he will skip Hungary from any tour schedules due to the country’s anti-LGBT laws.
“I find what is happening in Hungary horrible. You don’t choose your sexuality and to discriminate based on that is not okay. If you want to accept who you are, surround yourself with people who love you and get out of that country. I wouldn’t perform there again. That is of course very difficult because there are people who would find support from me being there. If a country goes against human rights in this way, you have to take a clear statement.”
Hungary’s parliament has passed a law banning gay people from featuring in school educational materials or TV shows for under-18s, as Viktor Orbán’s ruling party intensified its campaign against LGBT rights.
The national assembly passed the legislation by 157 votes to one, after MPs in the ruling Fidesz party ignored a last-minute plea by one of Europe’s leading human rights officials to abandon the plan as “an affront against the rights and identities of LGBTI persons”.
Despite a boycott of the vote by some opposition politicians, the outcome was never in doubt, as Fidesz has a healthy majority and the plans were supported by the far-right Jobbik party.
