On the 15th of June 2021, the Hungarian Parliament approved a legislative amendment, which impedes the rights to sexual health, sexual health-education, free expression and information for children, as well as discriminating against numerous children and their families in Hungary.
This law, in every way, is incompatible with those international human rights agreements that the Hungarian Government partook in. Additionally no professional or societal consultation had taken place prior to the law's passage. The phrasing of the bill is unclear, as it allows for selfish usage, possibly making any conversation around sexual orientation and gender identity impossible. The passage of this homophobic and transphobic law was condemned nationally and internationally.
Expressed their objection:
- European Parliament
- Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
- Transgender Europe
- ILGA Europe
- Transvanilla Transgender Association, Amnesty International Hungary, Labrisz, Háttér Society, Budapest Pride, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ), Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Szikra Movement, The City is For All (AVM)
- Democratic Coalition (DK), Together (Együtt), Momentum Movement, Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (MKKP), Dialogue (Párbeszéd)
- HBO Hungary, RTL, A + E Networks UK, AMC, WarnerMedia, Viacom CBS
- US Embassy, Head of State or Government of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Austria
- The representatives of the hungarian children's literature, more than two hundred authors, poets, illustrators, publishers
- The Association of Hungarian Book Publishers and Distributors (MKKE) and many more.
21st July 2021: Because of the emergency, a nationwide referendum couldn't be initiated. A few hours after the relevant ban’s end was published in the Magyar Közlöny, Viktor Orbán himself announced that the government had initiated a referendum on "child protection".This is unusual, even in the case of an adopted legislative amendment. The questions that were proposed in the referendum are the following:
- Do You support holding educational events on sexual orientations for minors, in public institutions, without parental consent?
- Do You support the promotion of sex reassignment treatments for minors? Do You support the unrestricted exposure of minors to sexually explicit media content, that may influence their development?
- Do You support the exposure of minors to media content, displaying sex change?
- Do You support making sex reassignment treatments accessible for minors?
At the plenary session of the 30th of July 2021 of the Hungarian National Electoral Commision, all questions were authenticated and passed.
16 August 2021: Four questions out of five of the referendum met with objection by political parties, the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party and Momentum Movement, five questions out of five were objected by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, and they were brought before the Curia of Hungary (Supreme Court).
12 October 2021: Ex-Jobbik, now independent member of parliament, János Volner submitted a legislative amendment proposal with regard to the ability to hold parliamentary elections and a nationwide referendum on the same date. With this, election campaigns could be more coordinated, the time period, in which a legal remedy can be submitted, is shortened and the rules regarding the ballot papers change.
22 October 2021: Out of the five questions, the last one failed before the Curia, and the government turned to the Constitutional Court of Hungary.
3 November 2021: Eight non-governmental organizations, including Transvannilla, turned to the Hungarian Constitutional Court in an effort to ensure that the referendum had as little negative impact as possible.
9 November 2021: The bill to change the rules of the referendum and the parliamentary elections were passed.
16 November 2021: Together with the referendum question on the age of compulsory education, two questions were finally certified by the Curia in November.
30 November 2021: The National Assembly ordered the referendum, with the four questions intact.
15 December 2021: The resolution that ordered the referendum was met with objection in the Constitutional Court of Hungary, the Constitutional Court had to give a judgment until the middle of January.
15 December 2021: According to the Strasbourg based advisory body of the Council of Europe on constitutional law, the Venice Commission, the law amendment on public education and child protection, which went into effect in June, is incompatible with the international human rights norms.
16 December 2021: The Constitutional Court of Hungary ruled the decision made by the Curia anti-constitutional, making the fifth question, regarding minors' accessibility for gender affirmation treatment, up for vote. This and the other four questions were composed in a way to influence and mislead the voter. According to official reasoning, the government did not want to return to the topic, which led to only the first four questions being displayed on the ballot paper.
6 January 2022: The Constitutional Court of Hungary passed the order for the referendum, rejecting the objection which was proposed against it.
11 January 2022: Eleven non-governmental organizations, including Transvanilla, asked the public to make their vote invalid.
13 January 2022: The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović expressed her concern about the ostracizing referendum.
21 January 2022: The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union turned to the Constitutional Court of Hungary, accompanied by two parents and a child: they requested that the four previous decisions proposed by the Curia to be annulled, stopping the referendum that violates fundamental rights, which instead of serving the best interest of children, it only benefits the government's political goals.
14 February 2022: The referendum ballot paper was approved by the Hungarian National Electoral Commision.