Hungary Passes New Amendment Banning LGBTQ+ Public Events, Protests Ensue

Hungary‘s parliament passed a dangerous measure on Monday, allowing the government to ban LGBTQ+ public events. The discriminatory legislation drew crowds of activists and lawmakers, who attempted to block the doors of the parliament by zip-tying themselves together. According to AP, police physically removed the protestors ahead of the vote.

Lawmakers who opposed the measure also attempted to use airhorns to disrupt the vote, but to no avail. The legislation, proposed by Fidesz—the nation’s ruling conservative party led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán—passed 140-21.

The measure, which amends Hungary’s constitution, was passed under the guise of “protecting children.” It states that children’s rights to “moral, physical and spiritual development” are more important than other rights, including the right to peacefully assemble, and that LGBTQ+ public events would detract from a child’s development. The amendment follows Hungary’s “child protection” law, which passed in 2021 and made it illegal to “depict or promote” homosexuality to minors.

Related: Montana’s Legislative Shift Signals A Triumph For Trans Rights

In order to regulate this new law, which eliminates constitutional rights for LGBTQ+ people, authorities have been authorized to use facial recognition tools to identify people who attend LGBTQ+ public events. Those identified can be fined more than $500. These prohibited events will include Budapest Pride, which brings in thousands of people every year. The Budapest Pride March was set to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. Pride organizers plan to go ahead with the Pride celebration on June 28, and about a dozen EU lawmakers say they plan to attend, according to Agence France-Presse.

The new amendment also states that Hungary’s constitution recognizes two sexes: male and female. This expands on a previous amendment, which declared a mother is a woman and a father is a man and prohibited same-sex adoption.

On Saturday, April 12, thousands of Hungarians flooded the streets of Budapest to protest the law. The protest was organized by the anti-establishment party, Two-tailed Dog Party. Some protesters came dressed in gray, holding signs with statements like, “Sameness is trendy,” to “expose the absurd.” Protests surrounding the Pride ban also took over Budapest earlier this month, blocking the Elizabeth Bridge. Activists are refusing to back down in the wake of this discriminatory bill.

Related: Hungary’s Pride Ban Sparks Massive Protests—See The Striking Footage

“Normal people like us are under constant provocation, because people who live according to non-traditional sexual behavior…. let off steam on the streets,” Prime Minister Orbán said last month in response to protests.

Orbán, who has ruled as Prime Minister since 2010, has been denounced by the European Parliament for turning Hungary into a “hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.” In recent years, he has outlawed the mention of LGBTQ+ issues in schools and forced bookstores to wrap books with LGBTQ+ themes in closed packaging.