Fidesz, Viktor Orban’s ruling party, has proposed a law that prohibits the dissemination in schools of what is defined as content that promotes gender change or homosexuality. A move that activists say resembles the law that was enacted in Russia in 2013 to limit the exposure of minors to information that threatens the idea of a traditional family, which over the years has led to a series of repression and censorship. The nationalist government of Hungary, a country that will go to elections at the beginning of 2022, in the last year has intensified its opposition to the movements for the rights of LGBT + minorities.
The government has enshrined in the constitution that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. It also outlawed transgender people, denying them the possibility of legal gender recognition, a rule that also extended to those who had already completed the transition. A retroactive law that the Court declared unconstitutional.
In recent days, an amendment has been proposed to a law against pedophilia which states that young people under-18 cannot be shown, in addition to pornographic material, any content that encourages gender change or homosexuality. This would also apply to advertising. It has also been proposed to draw up a list of organizations that are authorized to run courses on sex education in schools. “The new law proposed by Fidesz is a threat to freedom of speech and children’s rights – supports the Hungarian pro-LGBT + association” Hatter “- this move endangers the mental health of young LGBT + and prevents them from accessing information and the support they need. ” Hatter and six other LGBT + minority rights organizations have appealed to Fidesz to ask for the law to be withdrawn, which could be approved as early as next week.
Towards the polls
Meanwhile, Orban prepares for the campaign of the upcoming parliamentary elections in which, for the first time in ten years, he may not win by a large advantage. The opposition parties have allied themselves with each other and in the polls this choice is proving to be positive. For his part, the populist leader proposes an increase in the minimum wage that would be possible thanks to a tax cut for small businesses. Orban is also handling the issue of protests over the past few days against plans to open a Chinese university campus in the capital Budapest, which critics say would lead to an increase in China’s influence in Hungary and the European Union. “The issue has now become political and we should decide in a way that is acceptable to all,” said Orban announcing that a referendum will be held on the matter.