Hungary’s election committee green lights questions for referendum over contentious LGBT law

Hungary’s election authority signed off the government’s list of five questions on Friday ahead of a referendum on a law prohibiting the dissemination of content “promoting” homosexuality or gender reassignment in schools.

The decision by the country’s National Election Committee (NEC) gives the green light for the referendum, which Prime Minister Viktor Orban aims to hold by early 2022, ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Orban announced the referendum on July 21 after the European Commission launched legal action against the member state over the law, which EU officials claim violates the bloc’s value of protecting LGBT individuals from discrimination.

The referendum will ask Hungarian citizens if they back preventing schools from holding workshops about sexual orientation without the consent of parents, as well as whether they agree with prohibiting the promotion of gender reassignment procedures.

Alongside addressing the existing legislation, voters will be asked to consider if content that could affect the sexual orientation of children should be available without restrictions and if children should be prohibited from getting gender reassignment treatment. 

The Hungarian leader has condemned the EU for attempting to pressure the country into revoking the legislation on LGBT issues, claiming that the bloc is leading an “ideological war” against his fellow countrymen.

Prime Minister Orban has claimed that the EU is seeking to dictate Hungary’s domestic affairs, including importing the actions of LGBT activists elsewhere, visiting “kindergartens and schools” and conducting “sexual education classes.”

While Hungary argues that the legislation is about protecting children from paedophilia, the European Commission claims it “uses the protection of children as an excuse to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation.”

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