Parliament voted 139 to 51 on Tuesday, 13 October, to remove anti-LGBTQ provisions from the 2021 child protection law adopted under Viktor Orbán.
The ban on portraying or promoting sexual and gender diversity to children is replaced by a rule protecting under-18s from material that could seriously impair their development.
The European Council ended the conditionality mechanism on 13 October, releasing 4.2 billion euros, while about 3.5 billion euros remains frozen.
In April the Court of Justice of the European Union found the 2021 law breached EU treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Hungary's parliament on Tuesday, 13 October, passed an amendment to a 2021 child protection law with 139 votes in favour and 51 against. The vote removes anti-LGBTQ provisions adopted under Viktor Orbán. The original law banned the portrayal or promotion of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children. Under the amended text, the rules only aim to protect under-18s from material that could seriously harm a child's physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development. The bill came from the government of Péter Magyar, whose Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority in parliament.
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Magyar won a landslide in April elections, ending Orbán's 16 years in power, and took office in May. He avoided LGBTQ rights during the campaign, though he has since struck a friendlier tone and shown willingness to revise Orbán-era policies. He presented the amendment as a stronger child protection rule that applies regardless of sexual orientation, rather than as a restoration of minority rights. His government says the changes bring Hungary in line with EU rules. In April the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the 2021 law breached EU treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and found that it stigmatised LGBTI+ people. Fidesz, Orbán's party, has accused the government of neutralising the original law under pressure from Brussels.
Tamás Dombos, of the Háttér Society rights group, told AFP:
“The fact that restrictions on access to LGBTQ content are being removed is definitely an important and positive step forward”
Dombos said his group had fought the law for five years and that the amendment still left work to do, describing the situation as knocking on a closed door that at least now has someone listening on the other side. In June, Budapest Pride drew about 250,000 people despite an attempt by Orbán to ban the march. European Commissioners Hadja Lahbib and Michael McGrath welcomed the vote in a joint statement, saying LGBTQ rights are fundamental rights in the EU. They called the vote an important sign of commitment to shared values.
Hungary had been cut off from parts of EU funding in recent years because of rule-of-law backsliding. On the same day as the vote, the European Council ended the conditionality mechanism that affected the country, releasing 4.2 billion euros in frozen funds and restoring access for Hungarian universities to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe. About 3.5 billion euros remains frozen, tied to LGBT policies, child protection legislation, academic freedom and the right to asylum. The amendments are a further step toward unlocking that money, according to the reporting.
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Parliament passed the amendment 139 to 51 on Tuesday, 13 October, the first significant reversal of Orbán-era curbs on LGBTQ people since Péter Magyar took power in May. The European Council released frozen EU funds the same day.
AI text based on reports by Diário de Notícias, Blick.ch, Le Monde.fr and other publishers. Changed .