On Tuesday, Parliament voted to hold a referendum concerning Hungary’s child protection law. The motion was passed by pro-government lawmakers and several independents, while the opposition boycotted the vote. The public will be asked the following questions in the plebiscite:
- Do you support children in public schools participating in classes demonstrating sexual orientations without parental consent?
- Do you support information about gender change treatments being given to children?
- Do you support media content of a sexual nature and affecting the development of children being presented to them without any restrictions?
- Do you support media content presenting gender change being presented to children?
According to parliament’s resolution, the referendum would cost HUF 5.5 billion (EUR 15m) if held simultaneously with a general election, rather than HUF 12.6 billion if held separately. Under an amendment to the election law proposed by the opposition and passed on Nov. 9, referendums cannot be held 41 days before or after local, national, or European parliamentary elections. They can, however, be linked to such elections on the same day.
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