The vote in Budapest

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.

Why the government changed course

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.

Reactions and what remains

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.

EU funds still frozen

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.