The Hungarian parliament has passed a new law banning same-sex couples from adopting children, a move that has enraged and saddened human-rights groups and LGBTQ activists. The bill effectively bans same-sex couples from adopting by banning single persons from adopting children.
While same-sex relationships are legal in Hungary, same-sex marriage is not. Previously a same-sex couple could adopt a child if only one partner applied. However, the banning of single people adopting will now mean same-sex couples no longer have the opportunity to apply for the adoption of a child. The law was passed with the specific goal of banning same-sex adoption while at the same time being formulated in a way that means it does not contravene European human rights legislation.
This move is just one of many that right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has implemented in an attempt to roll back liberal ideas within Hungary, often by changing the Hungarian constitution itself. Recently the Hungarian government banned transgender people from changing the sex on their birth-certificates.
An amendment to the recent law defines a family as:
"Based on marriage and the parent-child relation. The mother is a woman, the father a man".
While the constitution now states:
"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."
Hungarian Justice Minister, Judit Varga, said:
"The main rule is that only married couples can adopt a child, that is, a man and a woman who are married."
The Hungarian government has said that the new laws discriminating against same-sex couples is required to roll back the ideological processes taking place in the West and to protect children from political indoctrination and interference.
Several prominent groups have spoken out against the new law, including David Vig, director of Amnesty Hungary, who announced:
"This is a dark day for Hungary's LGBTQ community and a dark day for human rights."
While Executive Director at Transgender Europe, Masen Davis, stated:
"We are deeply concerned for the health and safety of trans children and adults in Hungary in such a hostile climate."
Hungary has been increasingly criticised by the European Union and the European Parliament for regressive xenophobic and homophobic policies, including refusing to take its share of refugees. Orban himself conducted a huge Antisemitic propaganda campaign against fellow Hungarian George Soros who he claimed was running the world as part of a secret Jewish plot.
The EU may soon be required to sanction Hungary and force them to make the choice between a tolerant democratic regime and a government run based on far-right conspiracies.
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