Brussels, 21 July, LETA – AFP. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Wednesday that a referendum will be held in the country on the controversial law, which the prime minister’s opponents and Brussels consider discriminatory against the LGBTQ community, and the European Commission (EC) has announced proceedings against Budapest.
“Brussels has clearly attacked Hungary over the law in recent weeks,” the prime minister said in a video posted on Facebook.
The referendum will have five questions, Orbans said.
Among other things, citizens will have to answer the question of whether they agree that schools should be allowed to “talk about sexuality with their children without their consent”.
The referendum members will also have to answer whether they support “the promotion of gender reassignment procedures among minors” and that “children are exposed to harmful sexual content”.
The Prime Minister urged to answer “no” to all questions.
Orban described the referendum issues as Brussels’ demands. The time for the referendum has not yet been set.
The EC announced last week that it is launching legal proceedings against Hungary over a law that Brussels believes discriminates against homosexuals and other sexual minorities.
On June 15, 2021, the Hungarian parliament passed a law almost unanimously banning the inclusion of LGBTQ content in school curricula or television programs intended for children under the age of 18 on the pretext of combating pedophilia. The new law entered into force in Hungary on 8 July.
EC President Urzula von der Leien this month warned Hungary to change the situation with a controversial law in which Brussels sees the restriction of LGBTQ rights or to reckon with legal consequences.
The controversial law was originally intended to increase penalties for crimes against children. However, the final version of the bill contains amendments that critics claim combine pedophilia with homosexuality and stigmatize the LGBTQ community and its supporters.
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