In light of the concerns of the LGBT+ community, the Hungarian government is defending a new law that allows citizens to anonymously condemn those who “question” the concepts of marriage, family and gender, writes France Presse.

What does the contested amendment provide

Approved by parliament last week, this amendment to the 2014 law expands the list of areas in which citizens can report.

In order to “protect the Hungarian way of life”, the amendment allows for the denunciation of “any doubt about marriage”, written in the 2019 Constitution as a union between a man and a woman. It also encourages condemnation of people who deny “the right of children to an identity that corresponds to their sex at birth.”

According to the Hungarian government

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s chief of staff, Gergeli Gulyas, claims that the new regulatory act will be aimed “simply at harmonizing the legislation with the 2019 European Union directive on the protection of whistleblowers.”

“We adopted the European standard, emphasizing certain aspects,” a Hungarian official said in response to the criticism.

“This does not correspond to European values”

During a visit to Budapest on Thursday, French European Affairs Minister Laurence Boon discussed the topic with various ministers.

• “I raised this issue (…), explaining, of course, that this is not a law that corresponds to European values.
• Furthermore, the spectrum is so broad that it inevitably raises concerns about implementation.
• This is not a very good political signal,” said the French minister.

“A text that corresponds to the homophobic and transphobic campaign of the authorities”

For Aron Demeter, a spokesman for Amnesty International, this is “a text that fits the government’s homophobic and transphobic campaign”.

He believes that this undermines the fundamental rights of the European Union (EU), fueling “an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship”.

• “Some fear that children will be removed from single-parent families based on future reports,” he added.

The new “illiberal era”

Since 2018, Hungary has been gradually changing its legislation as part of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s project to usher in a “new illiberal era,” reminds AFP.

The law prohibited gender research, registration of sex change in marital status, and adoption by homosexual couples.

From 2021, the law also prohibits discussing gender reassignment or homosexuality with minors, and the European Commission has opened an infringement procedure supported by fifteen EU countries.

Hungary used to be one of the most liberal countries in the region. Homosexuality was decriminalized here in the early 1960s, and civil unions between same-sex partners were recognized in 1996.