Hungary parliament passes law effectively banning same-sex couples from adopting children

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

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Hungary’s parliament, where the ruling nationalist Fidesz party of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a two-thirds majority, passed a law on Tuesday that excludes same-sex couples from adopting children.

The legislation, proposed by Orban’s government, says only married couples can adopt children and single people can only adopt with special permission from the family affairs minister. Hungary does not allow gay marriage.

Parliament also amended the constitution, with a dozen new rules including a new definition for family as the union of a father who is a man and a mother who is a woman, redefining the clause to exclude alternative family types.

Although there are exceptions when single people or family members can adopt children, "the main rule is that only married couples can adopt a child, that is, a man and a woman who are married," Justice Minister Judit Varga wrote in the law.

Adoption by gay and lesbian couples had been possible until now if one partner applied as a single person.