The Hungarian government has officially prohibited same-sex couples from adopting amid a national crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights. Approved on Tuesday December 15, the new regulations will prevent unmarried couples from legally adopting, with same-sex marriage still being outlawed in the country, and will become effective as soon as January 2021.
According to NBC News, Hungarian justice minister, Judit Varga, claimed there would be exceptions made in certain cases, such as if a child’s parents passed away meaning an unmarried family member could adopt them, but said: “the main rule is that only married couples can adopt a child…that is, a man and a woman who are married.”
The bill was initially proposed last month by Varga, and was backed by deputy prime minister, Zsolt Semjen, who said: “They [same-sex couples] should not adopt children, because children’s right to healthy development is stronger than homosexual couples’ need for a child.” Varga argued children must be guaranteed an upbringing based on the values of the country’s ‘Christian culture’, saying they should be taught: “The basis for family relations is marriage. The mother is a woman, the father is a man.”
In response to the adoption ban, David Vig, director of Amnesty Hungary, said: “This is a dark day for Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community and a dark day for human rights”. Katrin Hugendubel, advocacy director at LGBTQ+ rights group, ILGA, said the changes meant “LGBTQ+ children will be forced to grow up in an environment which restricts them from being able to express their identities.”
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