In July 2020, the European Commission started legal action against Hungary and Poland for violations of fundamental rights of LGBTQI people, stating: "Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatized.

[6][7] On 1 January 2012, a new constitution, enacted by the Parliament in 2011, came into effect, restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples and containing no guarantees of protection from discrimination on account of sexual orientation.

Viktor Orban, leader of the ruling Fidesz party, which recently came to power with a two-thirds majority in the parliament, has been dubbed “Viktator” by the crowds protesting the new constitution.

[8] However, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation remains banned through interpretation of the general non-discrimination provision in the Constitution, as well as by the Equal Treatment Act.

Access to IVF and donor insemination is available for single women regardless of sexual orientation, but not available for lesbians cohabiting or in a registered partnership with their same-sex partners.

In November 2017, the Hungarian Ombudsman found that the rejection of a lesbian couple's adoption application was "an infringement on the child's right to protection and care, and amounted to unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation."

[13][14] In April 2023, Hungary's unicameral parliament passed a bill enabling and encouraging citizens to report same-sex couples which raise children to the state authorities - such as police and child protection.

[18] Article 8 of the Act states as follows: Provisions that result in a person or a group [being] treated less favourably than another person or group in a comparable situation because of his/her sex, racial origin, colour, nationality, national or ethnic origin, mother tongue, disability, state of health, religious or ideological conviction, political or other opinion, family status, motherhood (pregnancy) or fatherhood, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, social origin, financial status, the part-time nature or definite term of the employment relationship or other relationship related to employment, the membership of an organisation representing employees' interests, [and any] other status, attribute or characteristic are considered direct discrimination.Additionally, Hungarian law prohibits hate crimes and hate speeches on the basis of one's sexual orientation and gender identity.

[24][18][25] However, Transvanilla – an organization based in Budapest which campaigns on behalf of transgender rights – reports that the government has refused to honor applications of the legal gender change since 2018.

Bence Rétvári, the political undersecretary in the ministry of Human Resources justified the decision by claiming that, "Gender Studies - similarly to Marxism-Leninism - can be called an ideology rather than a science.

[34] In January 2021 the government ordered that a book published by the Labrisz Lesbian Association carries warnings saying it "[contains] behaviour inconsistent with traditional gender roles".

[35] According to a government spokesperson, "the book is sold as a fairytale... but it hides the fact that it depicts behaviour inconsistent with traditional gender roles.

[35] After the publication of the children's book, Fidesz also launched a smear campaign against the organization and the entire LGBTQ community, deliberately confusing homosexuality with pedophilia.

However, in November 2022, the Curia (the Supreme Court of Hungary) found that the article does not violate Labrisz Lesbian Association's right to good reputation.

The human rights defenders don't accept this decision - claiming double standards and that the government uses the freedom expression as an excuse to cover hatred and abuse - and turn to the Constitutional Court.

[36] In April 2023, Hungary implemented a law enabling citizens to report to the state people who "contest" children's right to "an identity appropriate to their sex at birth".

[42] In June 2018, the Hungarian State Opera House cancelled 15 Billy Elliot performances, after pro-government newspaper Magyar Idők claimed that the show could turn children gay.

Subsequently, the government media (Nemzeti Sport and FourFourTwo) began to revive his player contracts from the past twenty years, with the intention of expiration.

[47] In June 2021, the government of Hungary introduced a law prohibiting the showing of "any content portraying or promoting sex reassignment or homosexuality" to minors.

[50] David Vig of Amnesty International stated that "these proposals, which have dark echoes of Russia's anti-gay 'propaganda law,' will further stigmatize LGBTI people, exposing them to greater discrimination in what is already a hostile environment.

[53][51][54][55] Seventeen EU member states (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, Latvia, Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Austria)[56] and several LGBT and human rights organisations condemned the law and called it a breach of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

The festival was opened in the past by notable public figures including Gábor Demszky, then Mayor of Budapest, and Kinga Göncz, then Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[66] In May 2017, Prime Minister Orbán welcomed the World Congress of Families, a designated hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, at the National Parliament.

[67] In 2018, Hungary and Poland blocked a joint statement by EU employment and social affairs ministers intended to promote gender equity in the digital era because of objections to a reference to LGBT people.

[70] In 2014, Jobbik displayed a sign reading "The Parliament Does Not Want Any Deviants" during Budapest Pride, and verbally abused attendees and defaced posters in support of LGBT rights.

[72] In January 2018, the European Court of Justice ruled that asylum seekers may not be subjected by authorities to psychological tests in order to determine their sexual orientation.

Gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society's view on homosexuality, how they experience the way they are treated by other people and how satisfied are they with their lives.

[80] The 2023 Eurobarometer found that 42% of Hungarians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, and 49% agreed that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex".