Hungarian Parliament Scraps Anti-LGBT 'Propaganda' Ban from Child Protection Law
Hungary’s parliament voted on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, to remove anti-LGBTQ+ provisions from the controversial “child protection” law enacted five years ago under the government of Viktor Orbán. The amendments passed by a 139–51 vote, reports Euronews.
The legislative change repeals the explicit ban on the “portrayal or promotion” of homosexuality and gender transition to minors in media, publishing, and school education programmes. In place of the former restrictions, the statute now introduces a general requirement to protect individuals under 18 from content that could “seriously impair the child’s physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development.” Conservative opposition lawmakers from Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP) voted against the bill, insisting that “there is no place for the promotion of LGBTQ content in schools or the media.”
The passed measure marks the first major rollback of Orbán-era restrictions on LGBTQ+ rights since the country’s change of government following the April 2026 general elections. The administration of pro-EU Prime Minister Péter Magyar, commanding a two-thirds parliamentary majority, framed the reform not as an expansion of LGBTQ+ rights, but as a reinforcement of child protection rules regardless of sexual orientation. The revision also aligns domestic legislation with the European Court of Justice ruling that declared the 2021 restrictions incompatible with fundamental EU law.
Hungarian human rights advocates welcomed the elimination of the discriminatory clauses. Tamás Dombos of the civil society group Háttér Society described the vote as an important step forward following five years of campaigning against the law. At the same time, international monitors, including Human Rights Watch, cautioned that the reform remains incomplete: similar restrictions remain enshrined in Section 5/A of the Family Protection Act, alongside constitutional limitations and assembly regulations previously used to restrict public gatherings.
Previously, Uránia reported in detail that the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Hungary’s anti-LGBT law violates core EU values, that Budapest police approved the return of Budapest Pride following the change in government, and that Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced plans to end adoption restrictions for same-sex couples.
