>Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday, October 13, voted to remove anti-LGBTQ provisions in a 2021 “child protection” law adopted under nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban. Parliament passed a bill to amend the law with 139 votes in favor and 51 votes against, marking the first significant reversal of Orban’s curbs targeting the LGBTQ community since pro-EU Prime Minister Peter Magyar took power in May.
>Instead of banning the “portrayal” or “promotion” of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children, the new law will simply seek to protect under-18s from material that can “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development.”
>Magyar won a landslide victory in April elections, ending a 16-year stretch in power for Orban, who had taken one of Europe’s most restrictive approaches to LGBTQ rights. The new PM said the changes would bring Hungary in line with European Union regulations after Orban’s restrictions were found to be in breach of the bloc’s values. The prime minister did not address LGBTQ rights during his election campaign, though he has since struck a friendly tone and indicated willingness to revise some Orban-era policies.
>Orban’s Fidesz party voted against the amendment, accusing the government of “neutering” the original law due to EU pressure. However, the governing Tisza party has a comfortable two-thirds majority, which enabled it to pass the bill without any opposition support.
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>Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday, October 13, voted to remove anti-LGBTQ provisions in a 2021 “child protection” law adopted under nationalist ex-leader Viktor Orban. Parliament passed a bill to amend the law with 139 votes in favor and 51 votes against, marking the first significant reversal of Orban’s curbs targeting the LGBTQ community since pro-EU Prime Minister Peter Magyar took power in May.
>Instead of banning the “portrayal” or “promotion” of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children, the new law will simply seek to protect under-18s from material that can “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development.”
>Magyar won a landslide victory in April elections, ending a 16-year stretch in power for Orban, who had taken one of Europe’s most restrictive approaches to LGBTQ rights. The new PM said the changes would bring Hungary in line with European Union regulations after Orban’s restrictions were found to be in breach of the bloc’s values. The prime minister did not address LGBTQ rights during his election campaign, though he has since struck a friendly tone and indicated willingness to revise some Orban-era policies.
>Orban’s Fidesz party voted against the amendment, accusing the government of “neutering” the original law due to EU pressure. However, the governing Tisza party has a comfortable two-thirds majority, which enabled it to pass the bill without any opposition support.
Magyar stay winning.