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Hungary’s parliament has passed an amendment to the constitution, allowing the government to ban public events organised by LGBTQ communities.
The amendment, which required a two-thirds majority, was passed with 140 votes in favour and 21 against.
It was proposed by the Prime Minister Viktor Orbán-led Fidesz-KDNP coalition.
Opposition politicians and protesters attempted to barricade an entrance to a parliamentary garage ahead of the vote on Monday.
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The protesters tied themselves with zip ties and had to be physically removed by the police.
The amendment stipulates that children’s rights to moral, physical and spiritual development supersede any other right, apart from the right to life—including the right to peaceful assembly.
The amendment codifies a law fast-tracked through parliament in March that bans public events organised by LGBTQ communities.
This includes the Pride event held in Budapest, which annually attracts thousands.
The amendment declares that children’s rights to moral, physical and spiritual development supersede any right other than the right to life, including that to peacefully assemble. Hungary’s contentious “child protection” legislation prohibits the “depiction or promotion” of homosexuality to minors aged under 18.
The amendment codifies a law fast-tracked through parliament in March that bans public events held by LGBTQ communities, including the popular Pride event in Budapest that draws thousands annually.
That law also allows authorities to use facial recognition tools to identify people who attend prohibited events — such as Budapest Pride — and can come with fines of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($546).
Dávid Bedő, a lawmaker with the opposition Momentum party who participated in the attempted blockade, said before the vote that Orbán and Fidesz for the past 15 years “have been dismantling democracy and the rule of law, and in the past two or three months, we see that this process has been sped up.”
He said as elections approach in 2026 and Orbán’s party lags in the polls behind a popular new challenger from the opposition, “they will do everything in their power to stay in power.”
Opposition lawmakers used air horns to disrupt the vote, which continued after a few moments.
Hungary’s government has campaigned against LGBTQ communities in recent years, and argues its “child protection” policies, which forbid the availability to minors of any material that mentions homosexuality, are needed to protect children from what it calls “woke ideology” and “gender madness.”
Critics say the measures do little to protect children and are being used to distract from more serious problems facing the country and mobilize Orbán’s right-wing base ahead of elections.
“This whole endeavor which we see launched by the government, it has nothing to do with children’s rights,” said Dánel Döbrentey, a lawyer with the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, calling it “pure propaganda.”
