Hungary cuts anti-LGBT legislation

BUDAPEST

This photo shows the main legislative chamber hall of the Hungarian parliament building in Budapest. (EPA / MTI)

Hungarian lawmakers on Oct. 13 voted to remove anti-LGBT 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 LGBT rights.

Magyar 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.

Orban’s Fidesz party voted against the amendment, accusing the government of “neutering” the original law due to EU pressure.