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Hungary removes anti-LGBT restrictions from its child protection law

Hungary’s parliament approved the Magyar government’s package removing anti-LGBT provisions from child protection legislation. The change reverses restrictions introduced under Viktor Orbán that reached education and the media. Rights groups welcomed the vote while seeking additional changes, including marriage and adoption rights and restoration of transgender people’s ability to change official names.

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Péter Magyar stands beside books and a rear-facing media appliance in a bright room, with a Hungarian flag behind him.

Parliament reverses provisions introduced under Orbán

Hungary’s parliament voted to remove anti-LGBT provisions from the child protection law adopted in 2021 under Viktor Orbán. The amendments passed on October 13 under Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s government. The vote changes rules that restricted portrayals of homosexuality and gender transition in material accessible to children, including through education and the media.[1], [2]

Magyar’s Tisza party bundled amendments to several laws into one package addressing legislation inherited from the previous government. The party holds a two-thirds parliamentary majority. Orbán’s Fidesz party and the Christian Democrats voted against the changes. The Christian Democrats said they opposed the promotion of LGBT content in schools or the media. The new government is removing or softening the former restrictions while maintaining child protection as a priority. The dispute concerns how legislation treats sexual minorities as well as what content children may access.[1]

Rights groups seek further changes

Tamás Dombos of the Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBT rights organisation, welcomed the vote after five years of opposition to the earlier law. He also listed demands that go beyond the adopted package: recognition of same-sex marriage, adoption rights for same-sex couples and restoration of transgender people’s ability to change their names in official documents. Those are the organisation’s further requests. The parliamentary decision removes provisions from child protection legislation but does not establish that all of the rights named by Dombos have been enacted.[1]

Budapest announces release of frozen EU funding

Shortly after the vote, Budapest announced that the European Union had agreed to release 4.2 billion euros in frozen funding. Last month the European Commission said that some rule-of-law breaches affecting the EU budget had been addressed. It recommended unlocking funds and readmission to Erasmus+, the EU education exchange programme, and Horizon Europe, its research funding programme. That sequence does not establish that the entire funding decision resulted from this vote alone. Proceedings following the large Budapest Pride march in June 2025 were later dropped, and this year’s event took place without restrictions.[1]

References

  1. News sourceBBCHungary removes anti-LGBT provisions from child protection law↩1↩2↩3↩4
  2. News sourceEuronewsHungarian parliament removes anti-LGBT provisions from 2021 law↩
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