Everything you need to know about the new Hungarian “homophobic” law
Last week the Hungarian government implemented a change in the recent anti-paedophile law. The change has caused a great deal of public unrest with a demonstration held on Monday in front of the Hungarian Parliament. Since that, the topic has shifted the spotlight to Hungary worldwide, with many people making a stand against the law.
The whole thing started a little over two weeks ago when two Fidesz members have submitted a bill that would tighten the penalty for sexual crimes against children and make a list of perpetrators to help defend the younger generation. You can read about the original submission in more detail in THIS article.
Then, last week the Fidesz have amended the anti-paedophile law, or, more precisely, a set of laws that aims towards the protection of children from sexual attacks, paedophilia and would implement stricter punishment if the perpetrator was an official and also forbids perpetrators to work with underaged people.
However, one of the amendments that caused the issue was that under the new proposal, the promotion and presentation of homosexuality or gender reassignment would be prohibited for those under 18 years of age.
Many NGOs said that it was a frontal attack on freedom of expression and children’s rights.
Telex also said earlier that Hungary aims to copy the Russian homophobic package, and with the new amendment, Fidesz is confusing sexual crimes with gender identity issues. You can read more about all the problematic amendments in THIS article, and more details are available for the other laws the package includes HERE.
A demonstration was organised by Amnesty International Hungary, Budapest Pride, Háttér Society, the Hungarian Helsinki Society, and more, and was held starting from 6 p.m. on Monday. Thousands of people have attended the demonstration, and there is a petition against the new amendment that is at over 117,000 signatures at the time of writing this article.
On the last day of the Hungarian Parliament’s Spring session on Tuesday, however, the representatives have voted to accept the package of laws, triggering an even greater echo among the people. For example, TV channel RTL Klub Hungary said that the decision results in the reconsideration of many movies in terms of the age-based rating system. You can read more about them HERE.
Materials about gender change, promoting homosexuality forbidden in schools
András Schiffer, a lawyer and former politician, said on his Facebook that
“The bit propagandistic and homophobic proposal to ban “the promotion of homosexuality” […] is part of a completely planned-out operation.”
Hvg reported, that the following could be read in Háttér Society’s statement:
“Despite thousands protesting and having a petition signed by more than 100,000 people, the Parliament does not care about the opinion of Hungarians.”
Luca Dudits, the communications officer of Háttér Society, also added that “even though the government is trying to make an enemy out of the LGBTQI people, the last few days have shown that Hungarians do not want hatred. In the next period,
we will focus on challenging the illegal and inhumane law at home and abroad by all available legal means”.
Hungarian Parliament voted the discriminative “homophobic law”
The amendment and the protest also drew the attention of the international scene, and Reuters has reported the following:
“Hardline nationalist Orbán has grown increasingly radical in his social policy, railing against immigrants and LGBT people in his self-styled illiberal regime, which has deeply divided the central European nation”.
In their article, Human Rights Watch commented that “this brazen demonization of a marginalized group should be illegal in a European Union member state. The law erodes core EU values of non-discrimination and tolerance guaranteed in EU treaties.
Hungary’s President, János Áder, should veto the bill and send it back to parliament for review”.
Even a Norwegian news site, Nettavisen, has published an article about the events that took place in the past couple of days concerning the anti-paedophile package of laws.
Read alsoHuge demonstration against Hungarian homophobic law – Photos
Source: Daily News Hungary, telex.hu, hvg.hu, reuters.com, hrw.org, nettavisen.no
11 Comments
I appears to me that suddenly sexuality, homosexuality etc. has become a political issue.
YOUR SEXUALITY IS STRICTLY A PRIVATE MATTER SO DO NOT POLITICISE IT.
Do you realise that by politicising it you create more antagonism for those who are going to be the VICTIMS.
All parents of children all over the world will agree allowing THEM to make those decisions when they
BECOME ADULTS.
Until then, it is the RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PARENTS TO GIVE GUIDANCE.
Since when does one decide (!) to be homosexual on reaching an adult age ? And who made this moronic law into a political issue … and turn Hungary into a laughing stock all around Europe … the ones who made it surely . Educate yourself before you dare to use the ‘ Justice for all ‘ synonym .
This is not a moronic law. It reflects the moral conservatism of most Hungarians, who would strongly agree that homosexuality should not be promoted to those aged under 18. It should also be noted that in more liberal Western countries there are many examples of adolescents who have been encouraged to go down the gender reassignment route before age 18 who have later gone on to say publicly that they regret it. It is not difficult to get thousands of “woke” politically correct activists out on the streets of Budapest (and many of these will have been foreigners), but these protests attract little sympathy in Hungary outside of Budapest.
John G you are out of control, much too emotional to make a rational, coherent judgement.
Sexuality is a private matter, you people are making it a political issue by demanding the right to
“inform” children.
It had to be made a law because you are out of control and demanded to “inform” a developing mind
about matters they are NOT READY FOR.
WHAT RIGHT DO YOU THINK YOU REPRESENT, WHEN YOU DON’T CONSIDER ANYONE BUT YOURSELF?
DISREGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRAGILE MINDS AND PSYCHE.
Ask the parents of children and see how they would react.
DON’T YOU THINK THEY ALSO HAVE SOME RIGHTS???????????
You are making yourself into the laughingstock of the world.
Conduct yourself with dignity, keep your sexuality in the bedroom like any decent human being.
Keep your hands off our children’s ‘EDUCATION’.
Only parents and not schools or government should discuss sex with their children. Sexual information is available in libraries and on the net. Physicians who know the children and their history can also be help.
Schools should not encourage sexual activity in any form. It has been proven that many children that had early intervention with either hormones or surgery, had changed their mind in later years and ended up committing suicide. The brain does not develop until the early twenties. How can society accept a child’s decision, that affects their whole live, to be made in the early years?
I support the decision of banning material that encourages sexual change for children as long as information about sexuality is available in other areas.
Thoughtful people and parents do not participate in political maneuvering. We protect our children by educating them and by offering them a moral and ethical model to emulate. Life altering decisions ought to be made by individuals with sufficient maturity and life experiences to understand all the issues, present and long-term. More to the point, since when are moral, ethical, and spiritual issues legislated? I am amazed that 3% of the population is turning the world on its ears. Truly a situation of the tail wagging the dog. I pity anybody who chooses to participate in that.
I’m just an American trying to read up on global issues and this seems super complex.
True child abuse is promoting homosexuality to children–and that’s exactly what’s happening in Western Europe. I’m glad the Hungarian government has prohibited it and is protecting its children from such the appaling woke agenda.
True child abuse is promoting homosexuality to children–and that’s exactly what’s happening in Western Europe. I’m glad the Hungarian government has prohibited it and is protecting its children from such the appaling woke agenda.
True child abuse is promoting homosexuality to children–and that’s exactly what’s happening in Western Europe. I’m glad the Hungarian government has prohibited it and is protecting its children from this appaling woke agenda.
So what’s the homophobic part? It does not propose any penalties on the lifestyle. It does not propose any penalties on the lifestyle even for teenagers or students. All it says is that schools, & I assume other organizations, should not Promote it to minors. If they arrive at this conclusion on their own or after talking with family or counselors then so be it. This should be true of anything, minors should not be inticed into anything. As far as gender reassignment & surgery, are you kidding me? There is a long life & plenty of time for that after 18. It is insane to allow children to make than choice By the way, who pays for all these proposed elective surgeries?