Lawmakers in Hungary have passed a measure to effectively outlaw adoption for same-sex couples, continuing a wave of concerning anti-LGBT+ actions in the country.
On Tuesday (15 December), the Hungarian parliament gave a green light to the bill championed by family affairs minister Katalin Nova, which defines family as “based on marriage and the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman, the father a man”.
The legislation amends the country’s fundamental law to attack LGBT+ families, making clear: “Hungary defends the right of children to identify with their birth gender and ensures their upbringing based on our nation’s constitutional identity and values based on our Christian culture.”
Justice minister Judit Varga explained that barring some limited exemptions for family members, “only married couples can adopt a child, that is, a man and a woman who are married.” Single people seeking to adopt will be required to get special permission from the government to ensure they remain in line with Hungarian values.
Hungary human rights activists decry adoption law as ‘dark day for LGBT+ people’
David Vig, director of Amnesty Hungary, said: “This is a dark day for Hungary’s LGBT+ community and a dark day for human rights.
“These discriminatory, homophobic and transphobic new laws – rushed through under the cover of the coronavirus pandemic – are just the latest attack on LGBT+ people by Hungarian authorities.”
Human rights advocacy group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said the country’s constitution has “become a tool of homophobic propaganda”, vowing to “provide as much help as possible to the victims of the illiberal regime”.
Katrin Hugendubel of European LGBT+ advocacy group ILGA-Europe said: “These bills further restrict the rights of LGBT+ children and parents in Hungary.
“LGBT+ children will be forced to grow up in an environment which restricts them from being able to express their identities, and children across Hungary will be refused safe and loving families, as adoption is restricted only to married heterosexual couples.
“This attempt to rush through these discriminatory, homophobic and transphobic new laws are part of an ongoing attack on LGBTI people by Hungarian authorities.”
The country’s nationalist prime minister Viktor Orbán has overseen a slew of attacks on queer people over the past few years, pushing through a new constitution that bans same-sex unions and passing a law to end legal recognition of transgender people.
Masen Davis, executive director at Transgender Europe said: “Earlier this year, Hungary made it impossible for trans people to change their names and legal gender marker.
“We are deeply concerned for the health and safety of trans children and adults in Hungary in such a hostile climate. We call upon EU Commission president von der Leyen to address the rights of LGBT+ parents, the attempt to erase gender diverse children, and the ban on legal gender recognition in the Commission’s rule of law assessment and on-going Article 7 TEU proceedings against Hungary.”
Nationalists said anti-LGBT+ law had ‘become necessary’ due to coronavirus
Novak bizarrely claimed ahead of the introduction of the bill that it had “become necessary” due to the pandemic.
She wrote: “Due to COVID, a change in the fundamental law has become necessary. The government also initiates an amendment to reflect contemporary challenges: Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman established by voluntary decision and the family as the basis of the survival of the nation.
“Family ties shall be based on marriage and the relationship between parents and children. The mother is female, the father is male.”
by Nick Duffy
Source – PinkNews
