Hungary to amend anti-LGBTQ law to align with EU standards

What the report says

Hungary’s government has introduced legislation to revise a 2021 child-protection measure that had been used to restrict LGBTQ content for minors and later to bar Pride marches. According to Al Jazeera, the new bill would drop language about banning the “promotion” or “display” of homosexuality and gender transition to under-18s, replacing it with broader wording about material that could seriously harm a child’s development.

The proposal follows a shift in Hungary’s political leadership after Peter Magyar won the April election, ending Viktor Orban’s 16-year rule. Magyar said the updated rules would apply regardless of sexual orientation and would bring Hungary into line with European Union standards. He also said the government would take a strict line against media content accessible to minors that promotes sexual violence, manipulation or exploitation.

The article notes that LGBTQ activists and EU leaders have long criticized the earlier law for stigmatizing LGBTQ people and linking same-sex relations to paedophilia. In April, the European Court of Justice ruled that the law violated the bloc’s legal order. After that decision, Hungarian police authorized Pride marches this year, which had been banned under Orban’s government.

Al Jazeera also reported that Magyar said the government is considering changes to a 2020 adoption rule that restricted adoption to married couples and effectively prevented same-sex couples from adopting. If advanced, the amendments would mark another step away from policies that drew repeated legal and political challenges within the EU.