Budapest, December 15, 2011 – 50 years ago today the Hungarian Parliament adopted the new Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of Hungary which no longer criminalized consensual sexual activity between adult men. While discriminatory provisions with regards to the age of consent were in place until 2002, Hungary became one of the first then socialist countries to take this step.

The first positive legal development with regards to homosexuality happened in Hungary in 1787 when King Joseph II adopted a criminal code that no longer punished homosexuality with death. The first modern criminal code adopted in Hungary in 1878 considered „fornication against nature” a misdemeanor and punished it with up to one year imprisonment. It took another hundred years until the new criminal code adopted in 1961 recognized the right of everyone to engage in same-sex sexual activity.

The Hungarian LGBT Alliance – an umbrella organization bringing together LGBT groups – issued a press release today emphasizing that decriminalization is only a first step in recognizing the rights of LGBT people, and that discriminatory provisions concerning marriage and parenting are still in place in Hungary. They also called on the Hungarian government to stand up against the criminalization of same-sex sexual activity worldwide and be an active supporter of LGBT rights in the international fora.