Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has just taken another step towards anti-LGBT discrimination as a law. With the new constitutional amendment, the country bans the public expression of diversity and institutionalises state persecution, using facial recognition devices to suppress demonstrations. This authoritarian advance is a symptom of a collapsing democracy, which is reverberating elsewhere while the international community watches passively. How far can hatred be normalised as a state policy?
The authoritarian advance in Hungary
In April 2025, the Hungarian parliament, dominated by the national-conservative Fidesz party, took a dark step towards institutionalising LGBTphobia. The new constitutional amendment now bans public gatherings related to the LGBTQIAP+ community and establishes the recognition of “only two sexes”, a measure that mirrors recent policies of the Trump administration in the United States. Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister and architect of this anti-right crusade, had already shown signs of this kind of authoritarian behaviour in 2021, when he led de approval of a law bannin any mention of homosexuality in schools and the media.
What makes this new legislation particulary dystopian is its enforcement mechanism. The government intends to use facial recognition software to identify and fine participants in LGBT parades or any public event linked to the community. This measure goes beyond repression and turns existence into an offence, creating a system of mass surveillance that curtails freedom of expression, feeds fear and undermines fundamental principels of the democratc rule of law.
The dismantling of democracy under the pretext of “cultural sovereignty”
The passing of this amendment in Hungary represents not only an attack on the LGBTQIAP+ community, but also a blow to democracy. Despite massive protests, the party ignored the will of the people and pursued its hate agenda, using the “protection of cultural sovereignty” as a justification for flagrant human right violations. This stratgy is well known: create an imaginary enemy to unite groups around a common cause, while diverting attention from the real dismantling of social policies.
In 2023, Viktor Orbán criticised the European Union, accusing it of conducting an “LGBTQ offensive” that was supposedly threatening the Christian roots of Hungarian territory. He stated that his government, based on nationalism, would act to protect these roots against what he considers to be an imposition of external values, such as the supposed moral threat of sexual orientations and gender identities that are not in line with the European Union conformists. This kind of narrative provides space for the implementation of measures that restrict civil rights under the pretext of protecting sovereignty.
This is not the first time that Orbán has challenged the European Union. In 2022, in the middle of the war in Ukraine, the other countries that make up the European Union adopted policies to reduce energy dependence on Russia, amid various sanctions. However, the Hungarian Prime Minister endorsed his ties with Vladimir Putin by continuing the construction of two nuclear reactors in partnership with a Russian conglomerate and by reaffirming cooperation on gas from Russia, receiving a significant increase in supplies. Even in this context, the European Union is still hesitant to suspend Hungary’s voting rights, leading to questions about the bloc’s effective action in the face of major disagreements.
Historically, authoritarian regimes have resorted to the cultural manipulation of the masses as a tool of domination, following paths that range from the construction of imaginary enemies to the rewriting of national narratives. From Nazi Germany, which burned books classified as “degenerate” extolling a supposed racial purity, to the military ditactorships in Latin America that persecuted and censores artists and thinkers in order to confront “subversion”. The pattern is repeated in the promotion of a conservative nationalism that relies on distractions, with the persecution of groups as its pillar, to cover up political and economic crises.
In contemporary Hungary, this strategy materialises in the systematic targeting of the “non-standard”, be it LGBT identities, immigrants or political opponents, while progressively reducing civic space. Laws such as this one, which restrict the right to protest and demonstrate, follow the samen authoritarian logic of silencing dissenting voices through the institutional undermining of democracy
European silence and the intertia of international institutions
Another alarming aspect lies in the passive stance adopted by the European Union in the face of this case. While Hungary, a signatory of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, openly violates Article 11 — which guarantees freedom of expression — sanctions remain limited to inadequate measures in light of the seriousness of the situation. The silence of the international community in response to these attacks, which are not confined to Hungarian territory, reinforces a certain degree of complicity with such practices.
Hungary had already been the subject of proceedings for breaches of the rule of law, yet this inaction demonstrates the European Union’s limitations in dealing with governments that erode democracy. The problem is both political and structural. Institutional pressure mechanisms, once again, have proven to be fragmented and ineffective when confronted with populist leaders who know how to manipulate the system.
There is an urgent need for a firm and coordinated response, so that we do not witness the normalisation of an authoritarian model that could spread across Europe in matters concerning the rights of the LGBTQIAP+ community. The EU’s omission in the face of Hungary sets a dangerous precedent for other states whose governments flirt with the rollback of social rights.
This constitutional amendment is not about protecting traditional values or national sovereignty. It is about power, control, and the deliberate creation of a subclass of citizens based on individual traits. Meanwhile, the world watches — almost as if from the front row — as democracy and the freedoms that underpin it are dismantled, beginning with minority groups.
https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/internacional/apesar-de-protestos-presidente-da-hungria-assina-lei-proibindo-parada-lgbt/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hungarys-orban-condemns-eu-federalism-lgbtq-offensive-2023-07-22/
