The Hungarian Parliament approved on Tuesday with a two-thirds majority the four questions of a child protection referendum designed to reinforce the government’s stance in European debates about the matter.
Ever since the Hungarian parliament passed the so-called child protection law on June 15 this year, Hungary has been under attack from the European liberal mainstream for allegedly being homophobic and discriminating against LGBT persons. The European Parliament even raised the prospect of penalizing the country by withdrawing EU funding in the 2021-2027 budgetary cycle.
During the parliamentary debate on the referendum, MEP of the ruling Fidesz party, Gabriella Selmeczi, said that contrary to the European mainstream’s allegations of autocracy in Hungary, the referendum itself is a clear indication of a strong democracy.
The four referendum questions approved by parliament are the following:
“Do you support the holding of sexual orientation sessions for minor children in public education without parental consent?”
“Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments for minors?”
“Do you support the unrestricted introduction of sexual media content to minors that affects their development?”
“Do you support the display of gender-sensitive media content to minors?”
On Nov. 9, the Hungarian parliament scrapped a previous rule that referendums cannot be held 41 days on either side of general elections, thus it is possible that the referendum will be held at the same time as the legislative elections next spring, cutting costs by almost two thirds from 12.6 billion forints to 5.5 billion forints (€15.1 million)..
