Hungary Parliament approved this Monday, With 140 votes in favor and 21 againsta reform of the Hungarian Constitution that further limits the rights of the LGTBI+community. The Fidesz party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has promoted this measure with its majority of two thirds in the Chamber and modifies the Magna Carta to shield the prohibition of the marches of pride and of any public act that makes visible sexual and gender diversity. Everything, appealing to “childhood protection.”
The constitutional amendment establishes that “the right of the minor to the proper physical, mental and spiritual development will prevail over all other fundamental rights, with the exception of the right to life.” With this formula, the Hungarian Government subordinates rights such as freedom of meeting and expression to the protection of childhood, the argument that has already used to justify other laws against the LGTBI+community.
In addition, the Hungarian Parliament has approved another constitutional modification with which it is determined that only two sexes will be recognized in Hungary: the male and the female, leaving out the non -binary gender identities. An amendment that, on the other hand, hinders the legal recognition of gender change and puts more obstacles to transgender people, especially in access to reallocation surgeries.
Weekly criticism and protests on the veto to pride
The vote of the reform of the constitution of Hungary has occurred between mass protests in the capital, Budapest. Some deputies of the Momentum Liberal Party and several activists have tried to block the Kossuth Square, located in front of the Parliament building, as they did last March, when it vetoed “the meetings that promote or exhibit the change of sex or homosexuality.” This standard allows you to apply fines of up to 490 euros to the denounced and the use of facial recognition technology to identify the participants in these concentrations.
Since then, thousands of people have taken to the streets every week in defense of LGTBI rights in Hungary. The mobilizations have received the support of 22 European embassies, including those of Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, which have warned about the restrictions on freedom of expression and meeting. “This is not the protection of childhood, this is fascism,” the Budapest pride organizers have denounced in a statement, which maintain their plans to celebrate the march on June 28, despite the new legal framework and that the authorities are going to refuse the celebration permit when officially requested.
The European Commissioner of Justice, Michael McGrath, warned on April 2 that freedom of demonstration is a fundamental value of the European Union, and confirmed that Brussels investigates the Hungarian constitutional reform for its possible violation of fundamental rights.
The activist Dorottya Rédai, of the Lesbian community Labrisz, has accused Orbán’s government of wanting to “eliminate LGTBI people from public discourse.” The Independent Akos Hadházy, organizer of several protests, has warned that the final intention is not only to prohibit pride, but to prevent “any serious protest that bothers power.”
The reforms promoted by the Viktor Orbán government also include the constitutional prohibition of drugs and the withdrawal of Hungarian citizens to people with dual nationality if the authorities consider them a threat to national security.
