Hungarian gov't member publicly announces he is gay

Gábor Szetey, a member of Hungary's Socialist Party, became the first governing politician in Hungary to publicly come out as being gay when he opened the "12th Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Film and Cultural Festival" in Budapest Thursday.

Szetey said in his speech: "My name is Gábor Szetey. I am the personnel state secretary of the government of the Republic of Hungary. I believe in God, love, freedom and equality. I am Hungarian and European. I am an economist and a personnel leader. I am a partner, a friend, sometimes an opponent. And I am gay."

The 38-year-old politician also said it took him 28 years to accept his own identity, which he could never talk about with his now deceased mother. He added that he hoped his public coming out will make it easier for other Hungarians to do the same. He is the second Hungarian politician to come out publicly after Klára Ungár, a member of the liberal party SZDSZ.

Szetey has been working as a state secretary at the Prime Minister's Office since last July. As a leader of the personnel center of the government, his tasks include achievement-based personnel evaluation for increased effectiveness in state administration.

The opening of the 12th annual LGBT Festival also was attended by Klára Dobrev, the prime minister's wife, Health Minister Ágnes Horváth and her fiancé, Economy Minster János Kóka, Environment Minister Gábor Fodor, Government Spokesman Dávid Daróczi, Mátyás Eörsi, the leader of the Parliamentary faction of the SZDSZ, and Péter Gusztos, assistant faction leader.

Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, when asked at a press conference Wednesday whether Socialists supported the introduction of registered life partnerships, said: "One of the most delicate social questions is how we adapt to changes." He added that he wanted a relaxed and prejudice-free discussion of the topic, but ultimately, the issue is regulated by the Civic Code (Polgári Törvénykönyv; PTK).

After Szetey's coming out, MSZP MP Tímea Müller Szabóné told the press that her party supports the introduction of registered life partnerships, which has been initiated by their coalition partner, the SZDSZ.

The SZDSZ announced Thursday that they will propose an amendment to the PTK that broadens the institution of marriage to ensure equal rights for both heterosexual and same-sex couples.

Opposition parties Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) are against same-sex marriage. Fidesz Chairman Viktor Orbán, in a speech he gave at the Gáspár Károli University in 2006, said that homosexual marriage was foreign to the majority of Hungarian society. KDNP Chairman Zsolt Semjén, at the annual inaugural meeting organized by Fidesz, said that marriage was a relationship between a man and a woman, and the relationship of a same-sex couple should not be called marriage.

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