Hungarian MPs approve constitutional amendment to ban LGBT adoption
Budapest, Dec 15 (EFE).- Hungarian lawmakers on Tuesday approved a controversial alteration to the constitution that bans gay adoption amid a wave of indignation from LGBT+ groups in the country.
The change, which will mean that only married heterosexual couples and single parents with special permission can adopt children, was passed with 143 votes in favor, 43 against and five abstentions, carried by the ample majority enjoyed by prime minister Viktor Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party.
The edits to the constitution establish the mother “is a woman” and the father “is a man” and also specifies that children should be raised within the “Christian” interpretation of gender roles.
Hungary’s main left-wing party refused to participate in the vote.
Amnesty International described it as a “dark day” for the LGBT+ community in Hungary.
David Vig, the director of AI in Hungary, said: “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.”
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.”
Orban’s government, in power since 2010, has introduced several ultra-conservative policies in recent years concerning the so-called traditional family model.
The constitution of 2011 stipulated that marriage was between a man and a woman.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association in 2020 ranked Hungary 27th out of 49 European nations in terms of rights enjoyed by the LGBT+ community. EFE
