As LGBT activists passed out rainbow flags Wednesday outside the Euro 2020 soccer championship matchup between Germany and Hungary in Munich, few Hungarian fans stopped to accept them.
Volunteers from Amnesty International, CSD Germany and S'AG Munich had gathered at the Fröttmaning subway station exit to distribute the flags, but many Hungarian fans appeared bemused at the sight, the Associated Press reported.
Additional activists were there demonstrating against the Union of European Football Associations, which rejected a Munich City Council proposal to deck the stadium in rainbow colors. The UEFA said the proposal would act as a direct protest against Hungary, which passed a controversial law last week prohibiting the sharing of LGBT and sex reassignment content with children.
"We're here to protest the oppressive laws of Hungary against members of the LGBTQ community," demonstrator Julian Krusenberg told the AP. Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said the UEFA's refusal to illuminate the stadium was "shameful" but the city "won't let ourselves be discouraged from sending a clear signal to Hungary and the world."
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:
Drag queen Zoey Rachel Pride said she was outside the stadium to demonstrate for human rights.
"Human rights are for all people, regardless of whether you are homosexual, bisexual, transsexual or anything else," Pride told the AP. "There are gays, lesbians, bi, trans, inter, queer and so on and so forth. And that's why we always have to stand up for our rights. That's why I'm here today to stand up for our rights, for the people in Hungary who can't lead a life as well as we can."
Rainbow flags were flying from Munich's spectacular neo-gothic city hall, and there were plans to have a wind turbine near the stadium and the city's Olympic Tower illuminated in rainbow colors, too.
Many Hungarians were unimpressed.
"Politics doesn't have anything to do with sport," Hungary fan Csaba Töräk said. "Don't mix the two."
One young Hungary supporter, attending the game with his father, said he could see both sides of the argument.
"Like one [side] saying that politics and football shouldn't be united on the field. And I think that's a good point," Mate Melykuti said. "But it's a good point that it's a human right to be what you are. And I can understand that side too."
