ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the sporting opportunities of LGBTQ people in Hungary, from the early 2000s to the present. It starts with an overview of the legal context of LGBTQ people living in Hungary, complementing this with the results of surveys on Hungarian society’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ community. After revealing the legal and social situation of LGBTQ people in Hungary, the chapter turns to the experiences of LGBTQ people in sports and their sporting opportunities. Next, Hungary’s only LGBTQ sports association is presented. In both the sporting survey and the sports association, men (cis and non-cis) significantly outnumber women (cis and non-cis), which reveals the intersectional challenges facing the Hungarian LGBTQ sporting scene. The country’s heteronormative and patriarchal social structures have a considerable impact on sports, which are viewed as a privilege of heterosexual men. The aim of the chapter, therefore, is to explore the social and structural obstacles facing LGBTQ people, especially (cis and non-cis) women, when pursuing sports, while offering an account of initiatives that aim to challenge stereotypes and make sports more inclusive.