Queer Budapest, 1873–1961

335 Pages·2020·1.7 MB·English

by  Anita Kurimay

Queer Budapest, 1873– 1961

Queer Budapest
1873– 1961
Anita Kurimay
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2020 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
in critical articles and reviews. For more information, contact the University of
Chicago Press, 1427 E. 60th St., Chicago, IL 60637.
Published 2020
Printed in the United States of America
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20  1 2 3 4 5
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 70565- 1 (cloth)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 70579- 8 (paper)
ISBN- 13: 978- 0- 226- 70582- 8 (e- book)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226705828.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kurimay, Anita, author.
Title: Queer Budapest, 1873–1961 / Anita Kurimay.
Description: Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019046572 | ISBN 9780226705651 (cloth) | ISBN 9780226705798
(paperback) | ISBN 9780226705828 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Homosexuality—Hungary—Budapest—History—20th century.
| Homosexuality—Hungary—Budapest—History—19th century. | Budapest
(Hungary)—Social life and customs—20th century. | Budapest (Hungary)—Social
life and customs—19th century.
Classification: LCC HQ76.3.H92 B834 2020 | DDC 306.76/609439/12—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019046572
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48- 1992 (Permanence of
Paper).
For members of the Hungarian LGBTQ community
and scholars of gender and sexuality in East- Central Europe

Contents
Introduction. Sexual Politics in the “Pearl of the Danube” 1
1. Registering Sex in Sinful Budapest 19
2. The “Knights of Sick Love”: The Queers of Kornél Tábori
and Vladimir Székely 53
3. Rehabilitating “Sexual Abnormals” in the Hungarian
Soviet Republic 91
4. Peepholes and “Sprouts”: A Lesbian Scandal 119
5. Unlikely Allies: Queer Men and Horthy Conservatives 153
6. The End of a Precarious Coexistence: The Prosecution
of Homosexuals 194
Epilogue. Queers and Democracy: The Misremembering
of the Queer Past 231
Acknowledgments 237
Notes 241
Bibliography 293
Index 315
vii
Queer meeting places in Budapest. Map locations:
1. Császár Bath
2. Lukács Bath
3. Király Bath
4. Rudas Bath
5. Duna Promenade/Dunakorzó
6. Peto˝fi Square
7. Elisabeth Square/ Erzsébet tér
8. Deák Square
9. Minta Café
10. Nyugati Train Station
11. Nyugati (Marx) Square
12. Hungária Bath
13. Emke Café
14. Beer sanatorium/Sörszanatorium
15. Hungária Restaurant and Café
16. Bar on Szövetség Street
17. Széchenyi Bath
18. City Park/Városliget
19. Keleti Train Station
20. People’s Park/Népliget
Introduction
Sexual Politics in the “Pearl of the Danube”
In 1908, the celebrated Hungarian writer Soma Guthi published Homo­
sexual Love, as part of his new crime novel series.1 The novel, a tragic love
story between two wealthy gentlemen, stands as one of the few Hungarian
sources from the turn of the century that directly addresses same- sex love
and sexuality. Through the eyes of its main character, Detective Tuzár, the
book offers a rare window into early twentieth- century representations of
homosexuality in Hungary. Guthi’s frankness with his readers about homo-
sexual people remains striking and seems remarkably progressive, even over
a century later:
The papers do not provide enough information [about homosexuality] for
the curious lay reader. This is despite the fact that the nature of homo-
sexuality can be described in two short words: sensual friendship. Brave
definition, but I believe it is quite accurate. In friendship, the existence
of sensuality is nothing else than a wonderful exception to the rule . . .
The passion of the urnings [male homosexuals] is also human pas-
sion. . . . They also feel the anguish of jealousy, the pain of cheating and
the bitterness of rejection or despised love. . . . And where there is great
passion, there is sin, since sin luxuriates in the depth of passion.
Whoever knows them, knows very well that they are different from
their fellow men only in the nature of their sexual desire, and otherwise,
they are, by and large, intelligent, kind- hearted, and honest people, who
never sin against public morality because of their unnatural desire.2
Detective Tuzár, who is assigned to a homosexual murder case, was not only
familiar with the latest sexological and social/activist theories on homo-
sexuality (as he cites Krafft- Ebing and Karl Ulrichs, for instance), but as
1