Orbán era ends as Hungary elects new leader amid ongoing LGBTQ+ rights concerns

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has acknowledged defeat in the country’s 2026 election, calling the result “painful” after more than a decade in office. Orbán, a close ally of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, leaves behind a legacy marked by far-right governance, democratic backsliding and sustained attacks on LGBTQ+ rights.

Orbán consistently framed his policies as a defence of “Christian values” and child protection, Star Observer reports. A centrepiece of this agenda was a 2021 law limiting the depiction of homosexuality and gender diversity in schools and in media accessible to minors. While the government claimed the measure protected children, human rights organisations, EU institutions and local activists argued that it stigmatised LGBTQ+ people and wrongly linked their identities to harm.

During Orbán’s tenure, legal gender recognition for transgender and intersex people was effectively halted, and constitutional changes restricted adoption to married heterosexual couples. Official rhetoric routinely portrayed LGBTQ+ advocacy as part of what Orbán labelled “gender ideology,” urging Hungarians to reject it.

The impact of these measures was documented by Reuters during an anniversary of Hungary’s Pride movement, where one participant said, “We are being pushed out of public life.” In 2025, new legislation empowered authorities to ban Pride events, further constraining public expressions of queer identity. Officials continued to justify such steps as child protection measures.

Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ+ laws triggered strong criticism from the European Union, particularly over the 2021 “child protection” legislation. The European Commission initiated infringement proceedings and referred Hungary to the EU’s top court, while the European Parliament declared it “condemns in the strongest possible terms” what it viewed as a violation of fundamental rights.

Several member states joined the case, with a coalition of EU countries warning they were “highly alarmed” and urging Budapest to revise the law. Parts of EU funding were withheld amid broader concerns about the rule of law and respect for minority rights.

The United Nations, including High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, also called on Hungary to repeal the legislation. In a joint statement, UN authorities urged the government to “combat the high levels of intolerance, discrimination, bullying and harassment related to sexual orientation and gender identity, faced by children in particular, in line with Hungary’s international human rights obligations.”

Orbán’s successor, Péter Magyar, won the election on a platform focused on tackling corruption and addressing everyday issues such as healthcare and public transport. He has pledged to repair Hungary’s strained relations with the European Union and NATO. However, Magyar has not expressed clear support for LGBTQ+ rights and did not advance pro-LGBTQ+ policy proposals during the campaign, leaving uncertain whether his government will move to reverse Orbán-era laws that restrict the rights and visibility of LGBTQ+ people.