Watch DW Documentary: Same-Sex Relationships in Budapest & LGBTQ+ Resistance to Orbán
- 11 Mar 2026 12:55 PM
This DW documentary follows Béla, Zsu, and Norbert, who refuse to be intimidated and are prepared to publicly stand up against Orbán’s authoritarian government. Photographer Béla Varadi is Roma and identifies as queer.
He moved to London a few years after the right-wing nationalist Fidesz party came to power in 2010, making life increasingly hard for queer people and minorities. Béla visited Hungary in 2025 to take photos at the Pride march.
In Budapest, Béla meets up with Norbert, who is also Roma and queer. Norbert loves the city, but social tensions are proving challenging. Despite support from his family, Norbert is considering emigrating—a step many queer people in Hungary have already taken.
Also, the German broadcaster looks into the lives of Zsu and Enikő who are a young lesbian couple from Budapest. They recently bought a house in the countryside and plan to move there soon. But how will they fare as outsiders in a rural community?
All this is set in the context of the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, facing criminal charges – as in defiance of President Viktor Orbán’s ban, he organized a Pride march in the city on 28 June 2025—the largest such event ever held in Hungary.
A few months earlier, the government had further tightened its controversial so-called Child Protection Law, which severely restricts the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary. The Pride event drew supporters both from within the country and abroad.
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