Hungary will hold a referendum regarding its controversial law restricting gay and transgender content directed at minors, according to its prime minister, Viktor Orban.
Zoltan Kovacs, Orban’s spokesman, posted a video address on Twitter Wednesday, in which the prime minister attacked the European Union for its denouncements of Hungary’s new law forbidding educational materials directed at minors that portray homosexuality or transgender people.
“Brussels has clearly attacked Hungary in recent weeks over the child protection law … They disapprove of the fact that we do not allow what has already been established in Western Europe,” Orban said. “There, LGBT activists visit kindergartens and schools and conduct sexual education classes. They want to do this in Hungary as well, which is why the bureaucrats in Brussels are threatening us and initiating infringement procedures — that is, abusing their power. The future of our children is at stake, so we cannot let Brussels have its way.”
PM Orbán announces referendum on child protection law: The future of our children is at stake. Read more here: https://t.co/iMNgHlvTG4 pic.twitter.com/cFQlxvqM4U
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) July 21, 2021
HUNGARY FACES WESTERN CONDEMNATION OVER LAW RESTRICTING LGBT CONTENT FOR MINORS
“When the pressure on our country is so strong, only the common will of the people can protect Hungary. Therefore, the government has decided to initiate a referendum,” he added.
The referendum will consist of five questions, which Orban read aloud:
2. Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments for minors?
3. Do you support gender reassignment treatments being made available to minors?
4. Do you support minors being shown, without any restriction, media content of a sexual nature that is capable of influencing their development?
5. Do you support minors being shown media content that demonstrates gender reassignment?
Orban urged Hungarians to vote “no,” drawing parallels between this referendum and the 2016 referendum on whether to accept migrants.
“At that time, a referendum and the common will of the people stopped Brussels,” Orban said. “We have already succeeded once, and together we will succeed again.”
Hungarian opposition leaders were quick to denounce the referendum, claiming it was simply a distraction from other issues. Opposition party Momentum called for a boycott of the referendum, saying, “With this hateful, fake referendum, the government only wants to divert attention from Fudan University, the surveillance scandal, unwinding inflation, stolen highways,” according to Hungary Today.
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The EU has been highly critical of the law, with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying it “goes against all the fundamental values of the European Union.” In a tweet, she promised to “use all the legal powers of @EU_Commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed.”
This Hungarian bill is a shame.
It discriminates people on the basis of their sexual orientation & goes against the EU’s fundamental values.
We will not compromise.
I will use all the legal powers of @EU_Commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed. pic.twitter.com/RzWPpue0CD
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 23, 2021
