Hungary's Parliament Removes Anti-LGBT Provisions From 2021 Child Protection Law

Hungary's parliament voted 139 to 51 on Tuesday to remove the anti-LGBT provisions from the 2021 Child Protection Law. The clauses had banned the "portrayal or promotion of homosexuality or transgenderism" in material accessible to anyone under 18. The amended text now focuses on protecting minors from content that can "seriously impair the child's physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development," without reference to sexual orientation or gender identity.

The original law, passed under Viktor Orbán's Fidesz government, had required certain children's books to be sold in opaque packaging and had been used to restrict public events. In April the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the provisions violated EU treaties and undermined the Union's "very identity." After Orbán's party lost the April election, Péter Magyar's Tisza party took office with a two-thirds majority. The repeal package passed with Tisza votes; Fidesz opposed it.

Minutes after the vote, Budapest announced that the EU had agreed to release €4.2 billion in funds frozen in the final years of the Orbán government. European Commissioner Piotr Serafin told ministers that Hungary had addressed a number of rule-of-law issues affecting the budget. Commissioners Michael McGrath and Hadja Lahbib called the parliamentary step an important signal of commitment to shared values. The Article 7 procedure against Hungary remains open, and separate restrictions on legal gender recognition, same-sex adoption, and Pride marches are still on the books.

Activists described the change as the first significant rollback of Orbán-era LGBTQ measures. Tamas Dombos of the Hatter Society told AFP that removing the content restrictions is a positive step but that many other laws still need review. State Secretary Szilvia Gyurkó said the government's aim was to separate child protection from questions of sexual orientation and gender identity. Publishers, teachers, and booksellers had spent five years navigating a rule that was broad enough to chill ordinary discussion.

The vote coincides with Hungary's effort to regain access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe programmes. The European Commission had urged leaders last month to unlock the money once the government demonstrated progress. For the Magyar administration the parliamentary action delivers both a domestic policy shift and a concrete financial result. Remaining Orbán-era statutes on family and assembly will determine how far the practical change extends beyond the single statute amended on Tuesday.