Hungary's parliament votes to strip anti-LGBT provisions from Orbán-era child protection law

Parliament votes to remove the provisions

On Tuesday, 13 October 2026, Hungary's parliament voted 139 to 51 to strip anti-LGBT provisions from a child protection law adopted in 2021 under Viktor Orbán. The vote is the first significant reversal of the restrictions Orbán imposed on the LGBT+ community since Peter Magyar took office as prime minister in May. Magyar, a pro-EU conservative, won the April election, ending 16 years of Orbán in power. The governing Tisza party holds a two-thirds majority, which allowed the bill to pass without support from the opposition. Magyar did not address LGBT rights during his campaign, but he has since taken a conciliatory tone and shown willingness to revisit some policies from the Orbán era.

What the amended law changes

The 2021 law banned talking to minors about homosexuality and gender identity, and it barred discussion of homosexual relationships in schools and in television programmes aired during children's hours. The Court of Justice of the European Union found that the law violated EU values, and the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Hungary. Instead of banning the representation or promotion of sexual and gender diversity in content accessible to children, the new text protects under-18s from material that could seriously harm a child's physical, intellectual, emotional or moral development. Magyar has said the changes will bring Hungary into line with EU law. He presents them not as a restoration of LGBT+ rights but as a strengthening of existing child protection rules, applied regardless of sexual orientation.

Reactions from rights groups

Tamas Dombos of the rights group Hatter Society described the removal of restrictions on access to LGBT+ content as an important and positive step forward. The bill was drafted by the new Tisza government and passed without any opposition votes in favour. Its supporters describe it as a step toward EU standards, while the text leaves in place a ban on content that could seriously harm children.

How the sequence unfolded

The 2021 child protection law containing the anti-LGBT provisions was adopted under Viktor Orbán. Magyar's party won the April election, and Magyar took office as prime minister in May. The parliamentary vote on removing the provisions took place on 13 October 2026, with 139 votes in favour and 51 against.