Hungary’s parliament passed a law banning gay people from featuring in school educational materials or TV shows for under-18s.
The National Assembly passed the bill with 157 votes, having a parliamentary majority with the ruling Fidesz party, and with the support of lawmakers from the right-wing Jobbik party, while the opposition boycotted the vote to protest discrimination against the LGBTQ community.
The legislation was presented last week by Fidesz, aiming to protect the children from pedophiles which also includes a ban on homosexuality and sex-reassignment education in school sex education programs, films and advertisements for minors.
On June 14, citizens protested against the new legislation in front of the Hungarian Parliament building exhibiting the rights of LGBTQ.
LGBTQ activists in Hungary, international organizations like Google and Viacom-CBS and Human Rights fiercely crticised the bill and compared it to 2013 Russian legislation that made scientific dialogue and works on transgender issues impossible.
Human rights organizations including Amnesty International Hungary wrote a letter in 2020 to PM Orbancriticising the bill, saying, “it will effectively make legal gender recognition for trans and intersex people impossible in Hungary, which contravenes EU and international human rights law and violates the well-established right to private and family life for trans and intersex Hungarians.” Human Rights Watch warned of the law calling it a harmful impact on children with sweeping consequences for health providers and educators.
“The idea that being gay poses a risk in itself to people under 18 is such a horrible vicious concept … It will have tragic effects on the mental wellbeing of young LGBT people”https://t.co/WHvzC6mjPh
— Andras Lederer (@andraslederer) June 15, 2021
#Hungary parliament today passed a law falsely associating pedophilia with #LGBT people; in doing so authorities invite hostility and hatred against them, fueling homophobia and transphobia. Prez Ader should veto bill! Read more here: https://t.co/tqAzqOO788 pic.twitter.com/rUfogWhTCq
— Lydia Gall (@LydsG) June 15, 2021