Hungary scraps Orbán-era ban on LGBT content for children

Hungary’s parliament on Tuesday, 13 October, approved amendments to the country’s child protection law that remove the ban on the “promotion” and portrayal of homosexuality and gender change in content available to under-18s. The changes passed by 139 votes to 51.

The provisions were introduced in 2021 by the government of Viktor Orbán, whose 16 years in power ended at April’s election. Presented as a measure against paedophilia, the law also restricted any depiction of LGBT people to children and drew sharp criticism from campaigners and EU leaders. After a further amendment in 2025, it was used as the legal basis for banning Pride marches.

Under the revised text, the bans on portraying “sexual and gender diversity” are deleted. The law will instead focus on material that can “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development”.

Brought into line with the EU court

In April 2026 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the 2021 law violated “the very identity” of the Union. The amendments are meant to bring Hungarian legislation into line with that judgment. On the same day, the Council of the EU ended its conditionality procedure against Hungary, unlocking an additional €4.2 billion in funding and access to the Erasmus+ and Horizon programmes.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who took office in May after defeating Orbán, did not campaign on LGBT rights and described the changes as strengthening child protection “regardless of sexual orientation”. His Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, so the bill passed without opposition support. Orbán’s Fidesz voted against, accusing the government of gutting the law under pressure from Brussels.

Tamás Dombos of the Hungarian LGBT rights group Háttér Society told AFP: “The fact that restrictions on access to LGBTQ+ content are being removed is definitely an important and positive step forward.” EU commissioners Michael McGrath and Hadja Lahbib welcomed “this important signal of commitment for our common values”.

Human Rights Watch cautioned that the amendments do not remove every discriminatory provision from Hungarian law, including the restrictions that were used to ban Pride and other LGBT gatherings. A 2020 ban on legal gender recognition for trans people also remains in force.

Source: attitude.co.uk, rtv.rs, blic.rs. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.