On March 18th the Hungarian parliament passed a law with a significant majority that banned the pride parade in the country. This law is not surprising for a country with democratic backsliding and a christian conservative government. It is a major limitation of personal freedoms and achieves nothing; adolescents which are queer are born that way and those that are not will not have their sexuality changed because of a parade. The pride parade is the celebration of a long fight for basic rights and equality for a loving group of people that do no harm to anyone and merely wish to exist in peace.
Religion, spirituality, and superstitions are private affairs and are not necessarily always bad, but the fun ends when societal laws, norms, and rules are based on superstition and these cause real suffering. Catholic Christianity, a set of unscientific beliefs, continues to cause needless and irrational suffering. Why did the pride parade, rainbow flags and LGBT books get banned (Hungary passed a law banning LGBT symbolism and literature earlier)? Because the ancient Hebrews banned homosexuality? Because “this is our culture”? This is ridiculous. Homosexuality is widespread among highly developed animals and all these restrictions do is enact collectivistic suffering on a group of people who do not hurt anyone, but who are loving, caring and hard-working yet “the culture” denies them the right to achieve their fullest potential for no reason. What future do Hungarian LGBT people who want to be doctors, engineers, and pilots, even have?
It is certainly not a good one, because the Hungarian police will be using facial recognition software to prosecute anyone violating this ban, which was just recently codified into the constitution - erasing any hope for a better future.
It’s a very worrisome development, facial recognition software is also employed in a similar fashion in Iran. Following the massive protests in 2022 in favour of democracy and women’s rights, which was brutally suppressed, Iran has been cracking down on any breach of women not wearing a headscarf using facial recognition software. The Iranians also justify this discrimination and limitation of liberty as something that is an integral part of their culture and that must be conserved. A Hungarian christian would surely say that such a culture is repressive and backwards - it denies women the happiness and joy of life. But exactly the same can be said of the Hungarian culture. Both cultures discriminate, repress and prevent people from being happy and prosperous in the name of religious dogma. Culture can change and improve - a society can adopt norms and paradigms that make life happier and the individual people more prosperous, but culture can also make everyone miserable and ruin lives. Big data can augment that misery.
Hungary is turning into a Black Mirror dystopia. Alongside Russia, Iran, and mainland China one of the first examples of big data and AI-enforced authoritarianism, which uses 24/7 surveillance and makes any kind of resistance impossible in its infancy. What makes Hungary so notable is that they are the future of repression in the name of culture based on religious dogma. The free exchange of information naturally leads to gradual evolutions of cultures and beliefs, which is why many seek to limit it. Historically, theocracies in Europe have been toppled because the state simply could not monitor all “heretic” activity. However, with the erosion of privacy and the usage of big data, it will be possible for the first time in history to create a religion-based society, where any dissent can be stifled in its infancy.
The erosion of privacy and big data enables repressive regimes or repressive social norms within illiberal democracies to oppress people on a level never seen before. Institutional religion could see a renaissance thanks to AI monitoring and a post-truth online culture.
I think that what society should strive for is the self-fulfilment and flourishing of every single individual. Liberty and the pursuit of happiness are essential, because liberty allows every person to pursue their dreams and wishes as long as they don’t hurt others. How can a person pursue happiness, if society commands that people may not do so, even when others are not hurt?
People who repress their deep wishes are not happy and live a life of sadness, constantly dreaming of what could be, of what their life could have been if they were allowed to blossom freely and were not constrained by others around them. One cannot achieve maximum happiness by pursuing the goals, dreams, and wishes of someone else. Humans prosper when they pursue their own goals. It’s perfectly logical - freedom and privacy allow everyone to maximise their freedom. When society enforces a highly prescriptive culture on everyone, freedom cannot be maximised and a lot of people cannot prosper. Without happiness what do we have in life? Why should we live unhappy lives without passion, love, hopes, and dreams? This is a culture of suffocating, normative fatalism that plagues Eastern Europe and many other places so badly.
Civilisation is the progress toward a society of privacy. The caveman’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilisation is the process of setting man free from men. We have to strive towards a culture that cherishes human privacy, that allows everyone to pursue their dreams and desires, to reach their self-fulfilment and happiness. The role of society and culture shouldn’t be to stop people’s pursuits but to help them achieve their goals. We have to strive for a culture of prosperity - that is the kind of society I would want my children to grow up in.
Postskribo#
Nothing warms my heart more than seeing the record number of people attending the parade in Budapest.
Sources#
- Ashifa Kassam at the Guardian. Hungary bans Pride events and plans to use facial recognition to target attenders: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/18/hungary-bans-pride-events-and-plans-to-use-facial-recognition-to-target-attenders
- Ashifa Kassam at the Guardian. Hungary passes constitutional amendment to ban LGBTQ+ gatherings: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/apr/14/hungary-poised-to-adopt-constitutional-amendment-to-ban-lgbtq-gatherings
- VOA News. UN: Iran using drones to enforce hijab law: https://www.voanews.com/a/un-iran-using-drones-to-enforce-hijab-law/8011563.html
- The New York Times. Budapest Pride Parade Was Bigger Than Ever, Despite Orban’s Ban: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/world/europe/hungary-orban-gay-pride.html