Hungary’s parliament removes LGBTQ restrictions from child protection law

Hungarian lawmakers voted on October 13 to remove provisions restricting minors’ access to material depicting homosexuality and gender transition from legislation adopted in 2021.

The amendments passed with 139 votes in favour and 51 against. The governing Tisza party supported the changes, while Fidesz, the Christian Democratic People’s Party and Our Homeland opposed them.

Tisza said the legislation focuses on protecting children from sexual content, tougher penalties for distributing child sexual abuse material, and stricter age restrictions for media and advertising.

Opposition parties argued that the changes would allow schools to promote homosexuality and gender transition under pressure from Brussels. Those are the parties’ stated objections, rather than established effects of the amendments. The vote changes the child protection legislation and does not amount to the repeal of every restriction affecting LGBTQ people in Hungary.