Hungary’s government proposed a constitutional amendment on Tuesday requiring children to be raised with a Christian interpretation of gender roles, as Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ruling nationalists turn to anti-LGBT rhetoric to shore up support.
The draft amendment submitted to parliament by Justice Minister Judit Varga declares that children must be guaranteed an “upbringing based on values stemming from Hungary’s … Christian culture.”
“The basis for family relations is marriage,” it says. “The mother is a woman, the father is a man.”
It also says Hungary “protects children’s right to the gender identity they were born with,” using language consistent with a government campaign to outlaw transgender identities. […]
In past years, Orban’s government has mostly focused on condemnation of immigration in Europe. But it has increasingly turned to anti-LGBT rhetoric as the pandemic hit the economy, following the example of the ruling nationalist PiS party in nearby Poland which made homophobia the centrepiece of its campaign in an election this year.
In May, Hungary banned gender changes in personal documents. It has also taken issue with children’s books that portray diversity positively.