Gender and Class Tensions in Hungarian LGBTQ Activism: The Case of Ambiguous Bisexual Representation

Abstract

This chapter examines how bisexuality is represented in contemporary Hungary and what it implies for the local LGBTQ movement specifically. I argue that the images of bisexuality which Hungarian mainstream sexist-heteronormative media, dating sites, and LGBTQ activism create and reproduce, reveal the sexist and classist elements of identity politics pursued by the Hungarian LGBTQ movement. Analysis of these discourses shows how bisexual representations build on women’s sexual objectification and the classed opportunities of coming out. Trapped between homophobic nation states and identity politics driven by Western donors, Hungarian LGBTQ activism lacks both the resources and the necessary critical perspective to address and represent a wide range of people with non-heterosexual practices. This results in a widening, gendered and classed, split between various non-heterosexual lifestyles.