Opening speech by Dorka Gálvölgyi at the 15th LIFT Festival
Dear All!
When my friend Zsuzska Horváth asked me to open today's event, I was surprised at first: why me? After all, I am not a member of the Hungarian lesbian community, I am not even a supporting member of Labris, I have not participated in any LIFT, I have no experience or expertise in this field... in short, what would I be doing here?
Then, in the second moment, I knew exactly. The reason I had to come here today is that both Labrisz and LIFT are about what for me is the most important task, what has actually been my job as a cultural organiser for years: building communities. I know how difficult it is, even in ideal circumstances, to find a group of people, to make them realise that they have a business with each other. To give them space and experience to cope with their daily lives more easily.
Creating, building and sustaining community, even in ideal circumstances, is a challenging task.
And I pause here to allow for the "less than ideal circumstances"... which, as a Jew and a woman, I also know well. And that is another reason why I am standing here today.
Because it doesn't matter if you're gay, a gypsy, a Jew, or just a woman in Hungary today, you must have experienced what it's like to be in the minority, to apologize for what you are, or how you think.
In a country where, even in 2024, gayness is still regularly and cynically, and especially deliberately, confused with paedophilia, where you can be asked in a simple job interview why you live or love the way you do, or where you are whispered behind your back because you, as a minority, don't want to be, or can't be, exactly like the majority.
I read that "LIFT is the only three-day cultural event in the country where women from sexual minorities from across borders and beyond come together to strengthen and sustain the community of women. LIFT is a space for understanding and dialogue, a safe space where respect for diverse perspectives is important."
Dear All! I would like to live in a country that is itself a safe space of understanding and dialogue, where community events like LIFT are commonplace and organizers can barely spend the money that the state, which represents the majority society, generously gives.
To quote one of my favourite writers, István Örkény: Let us look to the future with hope, because that is how we will live. In the meantime, we have to make it through these few years.