In a significant policy reversal, the Hungarian government is set to dismantle a key piece of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation from the Viktor Orbán era that made it nearly impossible for same-sex couples to adopt children.
The new Prime Minister, Péter Magyar, confirmed that the law will be changed, shifting the power to approve adoptions away from political appointees and back to professional bodies. This move is seen as the first concrete step by the new administration to roll back the restrictive measures imposed on the LGBTQ+ community over the past several years.
A Political Veto on Parenthood
Until late 2020, adoption by same-sex couples in Hungary was possible through a legal workaround where one partner would apply as a single individual. However, Orbán's Fidesz party amended the law to require all single-parent adoption applications to be personally approved by the Minister for Family Affairs—a political appointee.
In practice, this created a political veto, effectively halting adoptions for queer couples and many single people. The process became a tool for enforcing the government's conservative ideology rather than a system focused on the welfare of children in need of a home.
"We can state unequivocally that we are going to change this system," Magyar said during a press conference. "The decision in these cases should not be made by the minister, a politician, but by professionals who are able to assess the conditions under which a young child can lead a life that allows them to become a happy and harmonious member of society."
First Step in a Longer Journey
This reform addresses just one part of a broader legislative assault on LGBTQ+ rights under Orbán's sixteen-year tenure. Other significant laws include a ban on changing one's legal gender on official documents and the notorious 2021 "propaganda" law, which forbids the use of school materials deemed to promote homosexuality or gender transition.
This latter law drew widespread condemnation across Europe, including protests in the Netherlands, and was ruled to be in violation of EU law by the European Court of Justice just before the April elections that saw Orbán's party lose power.
Upon taking office in May, Magyar's new government asked for patience from the public and civil society groups as it begins the complex process of untangling these discriminatory policies. This move on adoption rights appears to be the first fulfillment of that promise, signaling a potential new direction for human rights in Hungary.
