Joint statement: Dark day for LGBTI community in Hungary as homophobic discriminatory bill and constitutional amendments are passed
Reacting to the Hungarian parliament’s decision to adopt a law that will strip non-married couples of the right to adoption and two constitutional amendments which further restrict the rights of LGBTQ people, leading human rights organisations have come together to condemn the decision.
David Vig, Director of Amnesty Hungary, said: “This is a dark day for Hungary’s LGBTQ community and a dark day for human rights. These discriminatory, homophobic and transphobic new laws – rushed through under the cover of the coronavirus pandemic – are just the latest attack on LGBTQ people by Hungarian authorities.”
Katrin Hugendubel the Advocacy Director at ILGA-Europe said: “These bills further restrict the rights of LGBTI children and parents in Hungary. LGBTI children will be forced to grow up in an environment which restricts them from being able to express their identities, and children across Hungary will be refused safe and loving families, as adoption is restricted only to married heterosexual couples. This attempt to rush through these discriminatory, homophobic and transphobic new laws are part of an ongoing attack on LGBTI people by Hungarian authorities.”
Masen Davis, Executive Director at Transgender Europe said: “Earlier this year, Hungary made it impossible for trans people to change their names and legal gender marker. We are deeply concerned for the health and safety of trans children and adults in Hungary in such a hostile climate. We call upon EU Commission President von der Leyen to address the rights of LGBT parents, the attempt to erase gender diverse children, and the ban on legal gender recognition in the Commission’s rule of law assessment and on-going Article 7 TEU proceedings against Hungary.”
Background:
The Hungarian Parliament passed a bill prohibiting adoption for non-married couples and amend the Constitution stating that “mother is a female and father is a male” and that Hungary “protects self-identity of the children’s sex by birth” which would further stigmatize the transgender and intersex people in Hungary.
