Hungary’s president rejected a bill that would enable citizens to report anonymously same-sex families to authorities, a rare rebuke from an otherwise loyal ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
(Bloomberg) — Hungary’s president rejected a bill that would enable citizens to report anonymously same-sex families to authorities, a rare rebuke from an otherwise loyal ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The draft law approved by parliament earlier this month would allow people to report those who contest the “constitutionally recognized role of marriage and the family” and those who deny children’s rights “to an identity appropriate to their sex at birth.”
President Katalin Novak sent the bill back to parliament for reconsideration, saying that it weakens rather than strengthens constitutional protections. The legislation contains passages that are irrelevant to the original purpose of facilitating the reporting of corruption in line with European Union law, according to Novak’s letter dated Friday.
While lawmakers can still override Novak’s veto, her letter contains unusually sharp criticism from a member of Orban’s self-styled “illiberal” leadership.
Orban’s government has curbed the rights of the country’s LGBTQ community and effectively barred adoption for same-sex couples. That was one of the reasons why Hungary was cut off from European Union funding.
Novak said the bill “cites the protection of constitutional values to introduce vaguely-worded directives whose practical applicability and legal consequences are doubtful,” according to her letter.
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