In an effort to protect traditional Christian values amid the world’s rapidly evolving mores, lawmakers in Hungary amended the definition of family in its constitution Tuesday to stipulate that a mother is a woman, and a father is a man, effectively banning adoption by same sex couples. The ninth amendment to Hungary’s constitution now also “protects a child’s right to identify with their gender at birth,” and right to “an upbringing based on Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.”
The government-sponsored amendment passed with 134 votes in favor, 45 against, and with five abstentions.
Article L.1 previously read: “Hungary shall protect the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman established by voluntary decision, and the family as the basis of the survival of the nation. Family ties shall be based on marriage and/or the relationship between parents and children.” This was replaced by the following: “Hungary protects the institution of marriage as the community of life or family formed on the basis of voluntary decision as the foundation of the survival of the nation. The basis of the family relationship is marriage and/or the parent-child relationship. The mother is a woman, the father is a man.”
Article XVI.1, previously stated that “Every child shall have the right to the protection and care necessary for his or her proper physical, mental and moral development.” The new text reads: “Every child shall have the right to the protection and care necessary for his or her proper physical, mental and moral development. Hungary protects children’s right to the gender identity they were born with and ensures their upbringing based on our national self-identification and Christian culture.”
As the “General Justification” for the changes, the amendment states: “A ‘modern’ set of ideas which relativizes all traditional values, including the created ones (teremtettség) of two sexes (one woman and one man), is cause for concern.” Timeless “concepts arising from the order of Creation are under constant threat,” and therefore it is questionable “whether the interests of future generations can be protected by the values of the Basic Law” as it previously stood.
Left-wing groups have “denounced the changes and called on European leaders to raise their voices,” U.S. News reported.
“This is a dark day for Hungary’s LGBTQ community and a dark day for human rights,” said David Vig, Director of Amnesty Hungary. “We are deeply concerned for the health and safety of trans children and adults in Hungary in such a hostile climate,” Davis said.
Katrin Hugendubel, advocacy director at international gay rights group ILGA, said the changes would adversely affect what she called “LGBTI children.”
“LGBTI children will be forced to grow up in an environment which restricts them from being able to express their identities,” Hugendubel said.