Suchergebnisse

The article presents the urban space use of the LGBTQI+ community in a post‐socialist and illiberal country, Hungary, by focusing on the historical development of Pride marches within the capital. Examining these events' routes, current regulations, and resistance related to Pride, the article observes acts of silencing and the disruption of silencing concerning the LGBTQI+ community. First, we rely on sexual and intimate citizenship studies (e.g., Plummer, 2003; Richardson, 2017) to highlight the public/private divide and related (in)visibility and human rights issues associated with the LGBTQI+ community within a cis‐ and heteronormative environment. Second, queer geography and the geography of sexualities are used to better understand the cis‐ and heteronormative environment within which sexual and gender minorities exist and operate. Regarding the Hungarian context, we assume that "a gradual extension of public space use" is present concerning the public events of the LGBTQI+ community in Hungary (Takács, 2014, p. 202). The article analyzes three aspects concerning the Pride parades held in Budapest through the 3R analytical lens and connected silencing and the disruption of silencing: the spatial routes of the Budapest Pride, related regulations, and the resistance to and of LGBTQI+ visibility in an urban setting. First, through maps, we visualize the routes of the Budapest Pride parades from 1997 to 2022 to understand how the visibility of LGBTQI+ and allies is constricted and regulated in the spatial dimension. Second, following the regulatory approach of the Budapest Pride organization, we focus on how the police ensure these events' and attendees' safety and whether cordons - physical symbols of division between participants, police, and bystanders or protesters - are necessary. The third aspect elucidates the resistance against and toward the visibility of LGBTQI+ people in the urban setting.

In Hungary, after the regime change in 1989, one of the most important institutional changes concerning suburbanisation was the high sovereignty of local authorities, albeit without appropriate funding for sovereign operation. This type of local sovereignty made mezzo-level planning and cooperation of independent municipalities ineffective. The inherent systemic political corruption of the rapid post-socialist privatisation hindered spontaneous cooperation as well. As a result, suburban infrastructure, even in municipalities with high-status residents, remained underdeveloped (from traffic connections through waste management to water provision). Our research field, Telki, was successful in selling land because its scenic location and the absence of industrial and commercial activities made it attractive for high-status suburban settlers. These newcomers were not interested in the further functional development of the village, and, as they took local political power, they successfully restricted economic and functional development. Consequently, selling land and introducing property taxes remained the most important source of income. The colonisation of the village by newcomers also meant the displacement of lower status original villagers and, today, mostly high-status families with young children feel at home in Telki. Others feel excluded not only because of real estate prices but also by the lack of appropriate functions or simply by the narrow concept of an appropriate lifestyle in the village defined by local power. The consequence of a complete lack of cooperation and rational planning is not only social injustice, elite segregation, and environmental harm, but also the reduced economic and housing potential of the Budapest agglomeration.