Hungarian lawmakers approved an amendment removing anti-LGBTQ+ provisions from a 2021 child-protection law adopted under former leader Viktor Orbán. Passed by 139 votes to 51, it represents the first significant reversal of those restrictions since pro-EU Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office in May. Magyar's landslide election victory in April ended Orbán's 16 years in power. Although Fidesz opposed the amendment, accusing the government of weakening the law under EU pressure, the governing Tisza party's two-thirds majority ensured its passage without opposition support.
The amendment replaces prohibitions on the portrayal or promotion of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children with protections against material capable of seriously impairing under-18s' physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development. Magyar presented the measure as strengthening child protection regardless of sexual orientation, while saying it would align Hungary with EU regulations. In April, the European Court of Justice ruled that the 2021 law violated the bloc's fundamental identity. EU commissioners Michael McGrath and Hadja Lahbib welcomed the vote as a signal of commitment to shared values.
Tamas Dombos of the Hatter Society rights group welcomed the removal of restrictions but stressed that substantial work remained. Hungary still bars legal recognition of transgender people's gender identity and adoption by same-sex couples. Human Rights Watch also noted that the bill left discriminatory constitutional language and restrictions on freedom of assembly untouched. Those assembly restrictions have been used to prohibit Pride marches and other LGBTQ+ gatherings.
