A referendum was held in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
on 3 April 2022, coinciding with the
parliamentary elections
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
.
While the overwhelming majority of valid votes were cast as "no" to the four referendum questions, the share of valid votes was below the 50% required for the result to be considered valid.
Background
The referendum has been called by
Fidesz
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
, the ruling party of the Hungarian government, and is described as child protection issues concerning
LGBTQ rights
Rights affecting lesbian, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishment for homosexualit ...
after pressure from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU) over legislation which the EU says discriminates against LGBTQ people.
The law has been described as appearing to "conflate
nd equateref name="euronews 23 December"> homosexuality and paedophilia, and is modelled partly on
a Russian law that banned so-called "gay propaganda" among minors. The Hungarian law goes further, making it an offence to "promote or portray" homosexuality or gender reassignment to minors. It also limits sex education in schools to government-approved organisations".
In a statement released by the Office of the President of the Republic,
János Áder
János Áder (; born 9 May 1959) is a Hungarian politician and lawyer who served as President of Hungary from 2012 to 2022. He is a long-time politician of the right-wing Fidesz. As a representative of his party, he took part in the Hungarian Ro ...
said (the statement in full): "Hungary's National Assembly voted unanimously on November 9, 2021 to allow holding a referendum on the day of the general election. "The legal conditions for holding a referendum are in place for four questions on which referendums have been initiated. "Taking into consideration the deadlines set by the laws on electoral and referendum procedures, a referendum on the four issues in question and the general election can only be held simultaneously on April 3 or April 10. "In view of this, I have set the referendum on the four issues specified in Parliamentary Resolution 32/2021 of November 30 for April 3, 2022."
[
Opposition politicians abstained from voting on the resolution.
]
Proposed changes
The four questions were:
Criticism
The parts of the law that are in question in the referendum have been condemned by human rights groups and labelled as "vigorous anti-LGBT rhetoric
Anti-LGBT rhetoric comprises themes, catchphrases, and slogans that have been used against homosexuality or other non-heterosexual sexual orientations in order to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. They range from the ...
" and "intended to limit minority rights
Minority rights are the normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, religious, linguistic or gender and sexual minorities, and also the collective rights accorded to any minority group.
Civil-rights movements ofte ...
". Human rights groups have also said the referendum is likely to increase discrimination and stigmatisation
Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet.
Stigm ...
of Hungary's LGBT community, and make life more difficult for LGBT children.
The proposals have been widely criticised by the EU due to contravening Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaim ...
. This article states "stigmatizing LGBTIQ persons constitute a clear breach of their fundamental right to dignity
Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...
, as provided for in the EU Charter and international law." EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen
Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; Albrecht, born 8 October 1958) is a German politician who has been serving as the president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 an ...
, has described the bill as discriminatory and "a shame".
Luca Dudits, executive board member of the Háttér Society
Háttér Society (''Háttér Társaság'' in Hungarian, ''háttér'' means ''background'') is an NGO representing LGBTQI people in Hungary. It operates a telephone hotline, a legal aid service, an HIV/AIDS prevention program and an archive. Beside ...
, the largest and oldest LGBT organisation in Hungary, said this referendum is "another tool of Viktor Orbán's communication campaign." She told Euronews
Euronews (styled on-air in lowercase as euronews) is a European television news network, headquartered in Lyon, France. The network began broadcasting on 1 January 1993 and covers world news from a European perspective.
The majority of Eurone ...
, "If you want to pass a controversial law, you should win a referendum before that".
A joint statement from 10 Hungarian LGBT+ and human rights groups including Budapest Pride
Budapest Pride, or Budapest Pride Film and Cultural Festival, is Hungary's largest annual LGBT event. Of the week-long festival, the march is the most visible event. The march has historically been known under several names, including ''Budapest G ...
and Amnesty International Hungary called for citizens to give invalid answers to the referendum, circling both "yes" and "no" for every question to "help ensure that the government's exclusionary referendum does not reach the validity threshold."
Results
Turnout
Results
''(As of: 2 May 2022, 22:34)''
At 100% counted, the Hungarian National Election Office reports:
For question 1:
* Yes: 300,282 (7.68% of valid votes)
* No: 3,610,154 (92.32% of valid votes)
* Valid votes: 3,910,436 (47.60% of registered voters)
* Invalid votes: 1,717,702 (20.91% of registered voters)
For question 2:
* Yes: 158,447 (4.08% of valid votes)
* No: 3,721,934 (95.92% of valid votes)
* Valid votes: 3,880,381 (47.23% of registered voters)
* Invalid votes: 1,747,757 (21.27% of registered voters)
For question 3:
* Yes: 180,785 (4.67% of valid votes)
* No: 3,691,376 (95.33% of valid votes)
* Valid votes: 3,872,161 (47.13% of registered voters)
* Invalid votes: 1,755,977 (21.37% of registered voters)
For question 4:
* Yes: 186,938 (4.83% of valid votes)
* No: 3,683,104 (95.17% of valid votes)
* Valid votes: 3,870,042 (47.11% of registered voters)
* Invalid votes: 1,758,096 (21.40% of registered voters)
None of the questions reached the required threshold of 50% of registered voters casting a valid "yes" or "no" vote (4,107,652) in order for the referendum to be declared valid and binding.
Aftermath
Following the referendum, the Hungarian National Election Committee fined 16 civil society organisations, including Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, the Háttér Society
Háttér Society (''Háttér Társaság'' in Hungarian, ''háttér'' means ''background'') is an NGO representing LGBTQI people in Hungary. It operates a telephone hotline, a legal aid service, an HIV/AIDS prevention program and an archive. Beside ...
, and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU, Hungarian: Társaság a Szabadságjogokért, abbreviated TASZ) is a human rights NGO. Since its foundation in 1994, it has been working for everybody being informed about their fundamental human rights a ...
, for having campaigned against the referendum. Amnesty International stated that the fines were an attempt "to silence us because our campaign and civil collaboration was successful." Later, the organizations challenged the decision at the Curia of Hungary
The Curia of Hungary ( Hungarian:'' Kúria''), also known as the Supreme Court of Hungary (''Magyarország Legfelsőbb Bíróság''a) before 2011 is the Supreme Court and highest judicial authority of Hungary. The Curia was founded in 1949 as the ...
, and the court ruled in their favour.
See also
* Anti-LGBT curriculum laws in the United States
Anti-LGBT curriculum laws, sometimes referred to as don't say gay laws or no promo homo laws, are laws approved by various U.S. states that prohibit or limit the mention or discussion of homosexuality and transgender identity in public schools. ...
* Censorship of LGBT issues
Censorship of LGBT issues is practised by a number of countries around the world. They may take a variety of forms, including anti-LGBT curriculum laws in the United States, the Russian gay propaganda law (on "promotion of non-traditional sexua ...
* Education and the LGBT community
Historically speaking, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people have not been given equal treatment and rights by both governmental actions and society's general opinion. Much of the intolerance for LGBT individuals come from l ...
* LGBT rights in the European Union
LGBT rights in the European Union are protected under the European Union's (EU) treaties and law. Same-sex sexual activity is legal in all EU member states and discrimination in employment has been banned since 2000. However, EU states have diff ...
* LGBT sex education
LGBT sex education is a sex education program within a school, university, or community center that addresses prominent sexual health topics among LGBT groups. Within schools, topics on LGBT sexual health are usually integrated into the general s ...
References
External links
Hungary to hold referendum on LGBT issues by early 2022
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was estab ...
. Published 22 July 2021.
Hungary parliament clears way for government's anti-LGBT referendum as election approaches
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
. Published 30 November 2021.
{{Hungarian elections
2022 in Hungary
2022 in LGBT history
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
Discrimination against LGBT people
Anti-LGBT sentiment
Homophobia
Education in Hungary
LGBT-related legislation
LGBT rights in Hungary
Referendums in Hungary
Sexuality in Hungary
Education controversies
Censorship of LGBT issues
Amnesty International
2022 elections in Hungary