Hungary Moves to Revoke Orban Ban on Promoting Gender Ideology to Children

Hungary’s government moved on Monday to revoke a ban implemented by former prime minister Viktor Orban on the promotion ​of transgenderism and homosexuality to children.

‘No Surrender of Our Christian Heritage’

After the government presented its bill rolling back the ban to the Hungarian Parliament, Orban wrote on X on Monday: “The West is changing beyond recognition. We do not have to follow it into a sinkhole,” adding, “No war, No mass migration, No mass gender ideology, No surrender of our Christian heritage.”

The restrictions, which Orban said were to protect children, provoked strong objections ​from the European Union and LGBT activist groups including Budapest Pride, who accused the government of running “a hate campaign.”

‘Love Is a Fundamental Right’

The draft bill ​seeks to ban materials that ​can “seriously impair ⁠the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional, or moral development.”

“The proposal focuses on the actual dangers facing ​children. Protection centers on pornographic and age-inappropriate sexual ​content, ⁠the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, sexual solicitation and manipulation, as well as other content that severely harms children’s physical, ⁠intellectual, ​emotional, or moral development,” the legislation states.

Magyar, 45, was regarded as a conservative during the years he spent at the heart of Fidesz, ​before falling out with the party and accusing it of widespread corruption.

Magyar said on X on Sunday: “Love is a fundamental right. In a humane Hungary, everyone is free to love whom and how they wish, as long as this does not harm others or violate the law.” He then quoted the Bible, writing, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

On Saturday, the prime minister said that his government would also change the Orban administration’s laws on adoption.

Orban in 2020 restricted adoption primarily to married couples, effectively closing the route previously used by same-sex couples, who cannot marry in Hungary. Single people were required to obtain special ministerial approval to adopt, with the Fidesz government firm in its view that the nuclear family is the best place to raise children.

Magyar told a press conference on Saturday that decisions over adoption should not be made by the minister or a politician, but by professionals, Hungarian media Telex reported.

“It is clear that we will change this system,” Magyar said in response to a question, adding that politicians should not have the power to decide such cases, but instead professionals, who should determine the conditions of adoption for a child “to become a happy and balanced member of society afterwards.”

Constitution Changed

Magyar’s party secured a two-thirds majority in parliament, allowing him to roll back ​or change legislation passed by Orban. Tizsa has also altered the constitution to ensure that 63-year-old Orban, an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, can never return as prime minister.

The ECJ said in April that Hungary had violated Article 2 of the EU Treaty, which the statement defined as “the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”

This was the first such action brought against an EU member state, the court said.

Orban criticized the ECJ’s ruling, saying in an X post that his government “protected Hungarian children from aggressive LGBTQ propaganda.”

In the UK, a law known as Section 28 prohibited schools from promoting homosexuality “as a pretended family relationship” from 1988 until it was repealed by Tony Blair’s Labour government in 2003.

Reuters contributed to this report.