Lecture: Disciplining Gender and (Homo)sexuality in Hungary

On March 8, esteemed sociologist Judit Takács will speak at Leiden University on “Disciplining Gender and (Homo)sexuality in Hungary.”

Drawing on her work on the social history of homosexuality, Dr. Takács will discuss the ways that social acceptance of gays and lesbians is often portrayed as a desirable European (or Western) value by local LGBTQI+ communities across Eastern Europe — as well as an undesirable “foreign import” by nationalists who try to evict homosexuals and homosexuality from “their” nation. At the same time, she will show how the democratic decline characterizing the “illiberal democracy” of present-day Hungary can question the link between improvement of attitudes and the democratization process, often envisioned as a linear development.