Hungarian parliament empowers government to hold referendum on LGBT issues

Hungary’s parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday that will empower the government to hold a referendum on LGBT issues, as Prime Minister Viktor Orban heads into a tough election race next year.

Earlier this year Orban, a nationalist who has been in power since 2010, proposed a referendum on ruling party legislation that limits schools’ teaching about homosexuality and transgender issues, stepping up a culture war with the European Union.

According to a proposal which Orban published earlier this Summer, the referendum would consist of five questions, which reporters have described as having a ‘leading tone’. One of the questions is: “Do you support minors being shown, without any restriction, media content of a sexual nature that is capable of influencing their development?”

Orbán is facing elections next spring against a newly formed opposition coalition, which could be a closely fought race. 

via Reuters, Guardian