The Hungarian parliament, dominated by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, today adopted an amendment to the country's constitution that bans public events organized by the LGBT community, and also grants the right to revoke Hungarian citizenship from dual citizens who the authorities deem to pose a threat to public order and peace, as well as public and national security.
This is the fifteenth change to the Constitution since it was unilaterally adopted by Fidesz in 2011, and lawyers and critics of the government assess that this is another step towards authoritarianism.
The amendment - a new step by Orban's government towards restricting the rights of the LGBT community - was adopted along party lines. 140 MPs from the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition voted in favor of it, while 21 voted against.
Ahead of the vote, opposition politicians and protesters attempted to block the entrance to the parliament garage in Budapest to prevent ruling coalition lawmakers from entering the building. Police physically removed the protesters, who were tying themselves together with disposable plastic bands.
The amendment legalizes the ban on public LGBT gatherings, including Pride, which is very popular in Budapest and attracts thousands of people annually.
The amendment asserts that children's rights to moral, physical and spiritual development take precedence over all other fundamental rights, including the right to peaceful assembly, with the exception of the right to life.
The constitution now also allows it to revoke Hungarian citizenship from dual citizens living in countries outside the European Economic Area, whom the government deems to be a threat to national and public security, and to public order and peace.
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