Hungary's Ministry of Social and Family Affairs submitted a bill to parliament on 14 September 2026 that would strip the country's 2021 child protection law of the provisions banning the "promotion" or depiction of homosexuality and gender reassignment to minors. Minister Vilmos Kátai-Németh submitted the bill under Prime Minister Péter Magyar, whose Tisza party took office in April 2026 after Viktor Orbán's sixteen years in power.
The change follows a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 21 April 2026, which found that the law breached both the human dignity clause of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights and the bloc's founding values under Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, the first time the Court had found both violations together in one case. Human Rights Watch called it a landmark ruling that made clear the law "has no place in the European Union."
The 2021 law banned the depiction of homosexuality and transgender identity in content accessible to minors, on grounds it presented as child protection. In practice it led bookshops to shrink-wrap novels with gay characters and pulled some films from television schedules. The same wording was written into Hungary's assembly law in March 2025 and used to justify banning Pride marches, though Budapest's Pride went ahead regardless and prosecutors dropped charges against its organisers in June 2026.
The new bill would replace the wording on sexual orientation and gender identity with a standard based on age-appropriateness, barring content that promotes or depicts sexual violence, exploitation, grooming or manipulation "regardless of sexual orientation," as Magyar put it in a radio interview reported by Knews. About 0.6 billion euros in EU cohesion funding has been frozen since the dispute began at the end of 2022; Magyar said the change could unlock roughly 500 million euros earmarked for education. He has separately said he wants to amend a 2020 law that bars adoption by same-sex couples, arguing that "decisions regarding child adoption should not be made by politicians but by professionals."
The bill still has to pass parliament, so nothing has changed yet for anyone visiting or living in Hungary. Our Hungary country guide reflects the law as it currently stands, including the advice to avoid public displays of affection; we will update it once, or if, the bill is enacted. Budapest's gay scene, from Alterego Club to Sauna 69, has kept operating throughout the dispute.