Hungary parliament passes ‘anti-LGBT’ law ahead of 2022 election

Critics say law against ‘promoting’ homosexuality to children effectively bans educational programmes and publicity of LGBTQ groups.

Hungary’s parliament has passed legislation that bans the dissemination of content in schools deemed to promote homosexuality and gender change, amid strong criticism from human rights groups and opposition parties. Hardline nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces an election next year, has grown increasingly radical on social policy, railing against LGBTQ people and immigrants in his self-styled illiberal regime, which has deeply divided Hungarians. His Fidesz party, which promotes a Christian-conservative agenda, tacked the proposal banning school talks on LGBTQ issues to a separate, widely backed bill that strictly penalises paedophilia, making it much harder for opponents to vote against it.