However, a separate referendum on LGBTQ and trans issues was declared invalid following a group campaign to spoil the ballots. The Orban government said the referendum was a vote on child protection laws, but critics say the questions amounted to discrimination against the LGBTQ community and an attempt to raise fears about what children are taught in school and exposed. in the media. “I find it stupid,” Ágnes Kapornay told the CBC at a polling station in the capital, Budapest, on Sunday, after deleting all questions on her ballot for the referendum. “For a stupid question, I can not give a correct answer.” Spoiled ballot paper from the April 3rd referendum. Human rights groups in Hungary have called on government opponents to close the polls and declare the referendum invalid because not enough voters cast their ballots. This voter wrote “Never again Fidesz”. (Submitted)
Of those who voted in favor of the referendum, more than 90 percent voted no to the following four questions:

Do you support the teaching of sexual orientation to minor children in public educational institutions without the consent of the parents? Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment therapy for minors? Do you support the unrestricted exposure of minors to sexual content that may affect their development? Do you support the display of sex media content to minors?

But for the referendum to be valid, more than 50 percent of voters had to choose from all four questions. According to Hungary National Election Office, less than 45 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots. About 20 percent of the ballots were spoiled and social media was flooded with photos of people who decided to make plans or protest, instead of noting X. The referendum was largely symbolic and is seen as a response to the European Union, which launched legal action against Hungary last year over legislation passed in parliament. It restricts the viewing of pornographic content to anyone under the age of 18 or material that the government deems to promote homosexuality or transgender issues.

friction of the EU

The European Commission has described the law discriminatory, saying it runs counter to European values ​​and started a infringement procedure, which could end with the EU Court imposing financial sanctions on Hungary. Orban, who told a Hungarian radio station last year that the EU had resorted to “legalized hooliganism”, spoke out about the campaign law, pledging that Fidesz would win the election and that the referendum on the law would end ” gender madness sweeping the western world “from the invasion of Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addresses supporters after the announcement of the partial results of the parliamentary elections in Hungary on April 3. (Leonhard Foeger / Reuters)
At a rally at Fidesz headquarters on Sunday, party supporter Josef Tatai told the CBC he had voted with the government because he is the father of two daughters. “Fortunately in Hungary, [children’s exposure to homosexuality and transgender messages] “It’s not a big deal so far, but it has already started, so we better stop at the beginning.”

The referendum is a “farce”

Many in the LGBTQ community of Budapest believe that the wording of the referendum questions was so biased that it targeted their community. “It is still very disgusting that the government is trying to stir up these transphobic, homophobic feelings in the public,” said Evgeny Belyakov, 35, who spoke to CBC at a gay bar in Budapest on Saturday afternoon. voting. CLOCKS Hungary’s LGBTQ community responds to referendum:

Hungary’s LGBT community reacts to the referendum

Victoria Rose and Evegny Belaykov believe that the Hungarian government is targeting the LGBT community with laws and a referendum. 1:58
Beliakov, who moved to Budapest from Vladivostok, Russia, when he was at university, did not have the right to vote in Sunday’s election, but encouraged all his Hungarian friends to spoil their ballots as he saw the referendum as a hoax. He says overall that Budapest is a very acceptable place and hopes that Hungary will not follow Russia’s example in terms of the perception of the gay community. “It’s not just the law or the referendum, it’s the whole … climate of society, because it can turn into more and more hatred and violence.” Belyakov spoke to CBC at Crush, a nightclub. Among the performers is “Victoria Rose”, whose daily job is to teach mathematics and chemistry. “I find it very interesting that no one has a problem with children being taught about sexuality, as long as they are heterosexual,” Rose told CBC. “This party is just always looking for enemies. First, it was the immigrants … and now it’s gay.” The International Union of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Intersex has described Sunday’s referendum as an attempt by the government to divert attention from “its great failures and corruption” and instead use the LGTBQ community as a barrier.

Anti-immigration referendum

In 2016, the Orban government held a referendum on immigration quotas during a refugee crisis in which thousands of migrants from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan tried to reach Europe. Evgeny Belyakov, 35, is from Russia and said he hoped Hungary would not follow its example in homosexual politics and sentiment. (Lily Martin / CBC)
The vast majority of Hungarians who took part in that referendum voted against an EU quota system on the number of migrants each country had to accept. However, as with Sunday’s vote, not enough people participated in order for the referendum to take effect. Despite the outcome of the immigration referendum, Orban sought to portray it as a clear mandate to challenge the European Union’s immigration policy. With Orban and Fides securing a clear majority in Sunday’s vote – a victory he hailed as so great from Brussels – critics fear the government will have the courage to pursue what Orban called Hungary’s “free democracy”. . The country is likely to remain at odds with the EU, which has suspended payments from the pandemic recovery fund in Hungary, along with Poland, for what it sees as an erosion of democratic issues related to judicial independence, media freedom and the rights of minorities, including the LGBTQ community.