EU Parliament- United Colours of Homophobia

EU Parliament- United Colours of Homophobia

It has been a gloomy Sunday for LGBT Europeans with Nationalists and neo-Nazis scoring high in EU Parliamentary elections. From France to Hungary, far-right parties of Eurosceptics with anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic and antigay rhetoric celebrated historic advances. The European Union, once the world leader on LGBT rights, can change their policies in the near future.

Nationalism and homophobia that had been walking hand in hand across Africa, the Middle East and Russia, have now reached Europe. Opposing Euro-integration and criticizing USA, colorful far-right parties of Europe are united in their support for Putin’s hardcore politics, including Russian law against ‘gay propaganda’ and even the annexation of Crimea.

At times of economic downfall, political disillusionment and general apathy Nationalism becomes particularly appealing to the masses providing easy answers and exploiting uttermost fares and most primitive animalistic instincts of the crowd. People are tempted to surrender their individual will in exchange for the immediate reward of inborn privileges and feeling of belonging to an exclusive group. The pack’s dominant leader empowers its followers to marginalize and exploit less privileged minorities, persecute any deviation from the ‘norm’. Incestuously related xenophobia, racism and homophobia are paradoxically both roots and fruits of the European Nationalism. Let’s look at some of the newly elected members of the European Parliament (MEP), their party leaders and listen to what they have to say.

France: Far-right National Front caused political ‘earthquake’ in France by coming first with 25 per cent of the votes. Party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, demanded to dissolve the French parliament that voted in equal marriage last year. Le Pen paid tribute to French historic and writer who shot himself dead in Notre Dame Cathedral protesting legalization of the same sex marriage. She tweeted: “All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France.”

In Austria, far-right Freedom Party progressed to 20 per cent of the votes. The party opposes same-sex marriage and its leader Heinz-Christian Strache ridiculed Austria’s Eurovision winner bearded drag diva Conchita Wurst.

In Germany, neo-Nazi National Democratic Party scored its first seat in the euro parliament with MEP Udo Voigt, son of Nazi SA member, is famous for praising Hitler and downplaying the Holocaust. According to ILGA Europe report, his party’s election billboards in Berlin were calling to ‘Stop with gay and lesbian propaganda’.

Udo Voigt, MEP NDP: ‘Hitler was a great statesman’

New Italian MEP Mario Borhezio from the Casa Pound Party became famous last year when he produced a fennel bulb during a parliamentary debate on gay rights. In Italian, fennel is a derogatory term for gay men. His fellow MEP from Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party, Alessandra Mussolini (grand-daughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini) is known for responding to a claim by the transgender politician Vladimir Luxuria that she was a ‘fascist’ with ‘It’s better to be a fascist than a faggot’. Pic. attached : Alessandra Mussolini, MEP Forza Italia: ‘It’s better to be a fascist than a faggot’

In Greece, Neo Nazi Golden Dawn party came third in the election. The party is known for the series of attacks on gay people. Its campaign of violence and intimidation against the Greek gay community commenced by forced closure of LGBT-themed play ‘Corpus Christi’ when Golden Dawn’s MPs physically assaulting journalists and the audience. With its 6 leading members behind bars and 18 more MPs facing charges of criminal activity, Golden Dawn has gained 3 seats in the European Parliament.

Ilias Panagiotaros, Golden Dawn: "Until 1997, [the] international association of doctors, and I don't know what, considered homosexuality a sickness, illness, which it is."

In Denmark, far-right People’s Party has won elections; doubling up its number of MEPs. Leading MEP Morten Messerschmidt, charged for singing Nazi songs and giving Hitler salutes, has called EU to stop supporting LGBT organizations like ILGA. He claimed in his Facebook post last month that EU finances ‘internal squabbles’ of sexual minority, where ‘gay men have a prejudice against lesbians and vice versa. But both despise the innermost transvestites, which in turn lack the understanding of the inter- sexuals’

Morten Messerschmidt, DPP called EU’s support of ILGA as ‘Sexual blackmailing of EU taxpayers’,

In Hungary, ultra-right Jobbik Party came second in the elections. Its leader Gabor Vona was known for calling Out Games in Budapest as ‘the end of the world’ and praising Putin for his crackdown on homosexuals in Russia. Jobbik had its own anti-gay law introduced in Hungarian Parliament seeking three years imprisonment for spreading ‘gay propaganda’. Party has long been believed to be financed by Russia and Jobbik’s MEP Bela Kovacs is now being investigated on charges of espionage for Russia.

PGabor Wona of "Jobbik” “ OutGames … is the end of the world”

In the UK, right wing UKIP party celebrated a historical win. UKIP opposed same sex marriage with its leader Nigel Farage comparing it to ‘opening a can of worms’. The party features a range of homophobic politicians. Reelected MEP from Newark Roger Helmer compared equal marriage with incest, called to allow psychiatrists to ‘turn’ homosexuals straight and claimed homophobia actually did not exist. Elected last week UKIP’s Councilor Dave Small called gays ‘disgusting puffs’ while another UKIP member John Sullivan discussed on his Facebook how physical exercise can prevent children from turning gay and suggested to ‘shoot one poofter’.

Roger Helmer, UKIP : "Homosexuality is distasteful if not viscerally repugnant"

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