A conservative anti-LGBTQ+ Hungarian MEP has resigned after police caught him at a queer sex party in breach of COVID-19 lockdown laws. 

European Parliament member representing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party, Jozsef Szajer, was detained by police while attempting to leave a 25-man sex party in Belgium on Friday night. Authorities  escorted him home where he showed them his European diplomatic passport and claimed immunity.

While attempting to escape, Szajer reportedly injured himself after jumping from the window of an apartment block’s first floor, where the gathering took place. Prosecutors stated that there were drugs found in his bag, however the former Hungarian MEP denied they were his.  

Police fined the 25 men €250 each for breaking rules limiting gatherings to four before releasing them. Belgian media reports that there were two other EU diplomats at the sex party, both of whom claimed immunity.

A European Parliament source said, “There is nothing wrong with participating in a sex party of any kind. However, such meetings with many people are illegal under the coronavirus laws.”

Szajer later resigned from his MEP position after confirming his attendance at the “private party” and claimed police gave him an “official verbal warning”. On Thursday, December 1, he publicly stated, “I apologise to my family, to colleagues, to my voters. I ask them to evaluate my misstep against 30 years of devoted and hard work.”

In Hungary, Szajer was a high-profile co-founder and member of right-wing ruling Fidesz party. He was also one of three lawmakers who rewrote the Hungarian constitution nine years ago to define “the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman”

During 2020, the conservative Hungarian government has sparked mass outrage after banning gender recognition for trans and non-binary people. The Fidesz party further sought a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights through a ban on same-sex couples adopting.