Humen, Hungary’s only LGBTQ magazine, is ten years old
In October, Humen, the only monthly printed LGBTQ-themed magazine in Hungary, celebrates its tenth anniversary. The organ, which is available free of charge, has evolved in recent years from hundreds of copies of small magazines to magazines reaching thousands. The publication has gone through many eras, and in parallel with these changes, more and more well-known people have taken up the idea in their columns.
On the front pages of Humen magazine, readers could already see a rainbow family, LGBTQ activists of Roma origin, or an openly gay corporate leader.
On the occasion of the Human, his tenth birthday, he is now publishing a one-page page with the aim of recalling and proving what educated faith and the work done for him are.
In 2011, some hitherto almost unknown young people met in an apartment in Budapest with the aim of launching a completely new LGBTQ-themed magazine. This was a great undertaking for the founder, Csaba Fehérdi, who, together with his colleagues, was already convinced at that time that they could be part of the Hungarian press history moment. Hument was taken over by Zsolt Erdei in 2013, who founded Humen Media, and since then, under this umbrella organization, he has also operated the humenonline.hu website, which is developing into an independent brand.
Despite all the difficulties, Humen, the only free LGBTQ magazine in the country, has readers and subscribers in Budapest’s entertainment venues, restaurants, cinemas and cultural venues, as well as in everything in the country, who ask for the page in their mailbox.
Over the course of the ten, more and more companies appeared in the paper, and on the advertised pages of the persistent elaboration of preconceptions, returning partners in the camp, with which a localizer appeared in the magazine.
In recent years, such key public figures as Péter Árvay, CEO of Prezi, political scientist Zoltán Lakner, Boldizsár Nagy, editor of the Fairy Tale Land for Everyone, fashion designer Tamás Náray, artist and actress Bori Péterfy have appeared on the front pages.
“We are not a faceless crowd” – these are the words of three Hungarian transgender activists on the front page of Humen in June 2020, after an amendment to the law removed the official possibility for transgender people to change their gender and name.
In September 2020, the Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony, also gave a long interview to the paper.
Many of Humen’s readers define themselves as non-gay or as someone outside the LGBTQ group.
In recent years, events such as the Humen Festival have taken place under the auspices of Humen, which for six years has been bringing films to cinema fans that have not been released domestically, but can be seen by the public at the Artist or Corvin Cinema one night at a time; as well as historical or contemporary art exhibitions, dance and theater performances within the framework of the festival. One of the most memorable Humen movements took place at the beginning of 2021, when they launched their social campaign “I am also a human being”, the posters of which could be found all over Budapest.