Hungary has passed new legislation which extends hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time in the country’s history.

President Janos Ader signed the new Hungarian Criminal Code on 13 July and it will come into force on 1 July 2013.

Although in theory homophobic and transphobic crime is punishable under current legislation, the new amended code makes specific provisions to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

It also does away with degrading terminology for same-sex sexual relations, dropping the use of offensive language which has been used in Hungarian criminal law to refer to any intercourse which is not vaginal.

The government’s move has been welcomed by LGBT activists in Hungary who have been pushing for this change for years.

Tamás Dombos, from the Háttér Support Society for LGBT People, called it a ‘surprisingly positive turn of events’ and follows attempts by far-right political party Jobbik pass a motion which bans the ‘promotion of sexual deviation’ and targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, as well as paedophilic, behavior.

‘As with any legislation, its merits are in its implementation,’ Dombos told Gay Star News.

‘The previous law, although not perfect, would have also enabled prosecuting LGBTI-phobic incidents as hate crimes, and still it was hardly ever enforced.

‘So, yes, adopting the legislation is an important step, but only a first step, it also has to be implemented. And for that police and other authorities have to know how to deal with such cases, there is a need for clear guidance and training for the police.’

Despite going ahead without incident, Budapest pride was threatened with violence by far-right groups, who also published the names and Facebook profiles of gay Euro Games organizers, as well as hotels where LGBT athletes stayed for the event.

Dombos adds that many LGBT groups have strongly criticized the law for diverging from current legislation on bigamy.

While the criminal code treats marriage and registered partnership in the same way, making bigamy illegal whatever legal union you are in, the new legislation reserves those rules only for spouses.

Dombos said: ‘While the practical relevance of this new provision is minimal, it demonstrates well the insistence of the conservative government to distance heterosexual marriage from other family law institutions.’

Members of the European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights have expressed their concern over rising homophobic sentiments in Hungary. Their statement follows reports that police have banned the 2012 Pride march in Budapest and that the Hungarian far-right political party Jobbik has submitted anti-gay laws to the country’s parliament.

Ulrike Lunacek, MEP and co-president of the Intergroup on LGBT Rights declared: ‘These repeated attempts to ban the march impede on freedom of assembly! The police can argue all they want, the Metropolitan Court already ruled the pride march legal by Hungarian standards.

‘It’s shameful for conservative powers to wage such a war against an even which most Hungarians really have no problem with - especially at a time when real issues like increasing poverty should the centre of public attention.’

Adding to Lunacek’s comments, Sophie in ‘t Veld, the vice-president of LGBT Intergroup says: ‘The ban on the pride for the second year in a row is a sad development in a country that used to distinguish itself by its climate of freedom and tolerance. The ban is a shameful attempt to deny LGBT people their human rights, as well as a misguided provocation of the EU.

‘The Hungarian government should not further contribute to a climate of homophobia that the likes of Jobbik feed on, but they should become the champion of LGBT rights and regain that reputation of a free, tolerant, modern nation.’

Hungary has been hit by a wave of financial problems and political controversies over the past few months. The national airline Málev was declared bankrupt earlier this year and last week the Hungarian president Pál Schmitt resigned after it was revealed he had plagiarised his doctorate.

LGBT activists in Hungary have protested together with opposition parties against the new constitution that restricts marriage to heterosexuals and fails to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The constitution came into force on 1 January.

Meanwhile a new Family Protection Bill (which is ‘cardinal law’ that requires a two-thirds majority in parliament, like the constitution, in order to be changed) has also come into force.

This Family Protection Bill defines the family unit as heterosexual and says that preparing for family life should be part of the school curriculum. In addition it stipulates that media services should broadcast programs that respect the institution of marriage and family.

Yesterday (2 January) tens of thousands of people – including from LGBT organisations – together with the opposition Socialist and Green parties protested against the constitution and family law in Budapest.

The constitution that was voted on 18 April 2011 has thus now come into force; Article L of the constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, while Article XV.2 excludes sexual orientation from the protected grounds of discrimination (but does have provision for protection on the basis of race and gender).

In essence the new constitution would make it very difficult for gay and lesbian people to gain marriage equality in the near future and provides no protection for LGBT people from unfair dismissal or hate crimes.

In addition, the power of constitution courts has been curbed. Previously a law or act could be annulled by petitioning to the constitutional courts via non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or civil society organizations.

Tamás Dombos, from Háttér Support Society for LGBT People, told Gay Star News: ‘This is how we passed the law of cohabitation for same-sex couples in 1995 and equalised the age of consent in 2002. The new constitution will no longer enable NGOs or civil society organization to launch such campaigns in the constitutional courts.’

The Family Protection Bill proposed by four MPs of the Christian Democractic Party and voted as law on 23 December states: ‘Art 7. (1) When applying this law family shall mean the relationship between natural persons in an economic and emotional community that is based on a marriage between a woman and a man, or lineal descent, or family-based guardianship.

‘(2) Lineal descent is established by way of filiation or adoption.’

The law reiterates that the life of the fetus starts with the moment of conception, that preparing for family life should be part of school curriculum, and that media services should broadcast programs that respect the institution of marriage and family.

Dombos said: ‘The Family Protection Bill basically excludes same-sex couples, and makes provisions on inheritance which may result in registered same-sex partners losing their rights to inheritance.

‘The law also states that all “media services should broadcast programs that respect the institution of marriage and family”. That “sounds” neutral but we are concerned it would be used in the media and internet against any material that has a pro-LGBT point of view.’

But he welcomed the fact that tens of thousands of people joined the protests with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and opposition parties, such as the Socialist and Greens, uniting against the new constitution and law.

‘Despite such bad news,’ remarked Dombos, ‘there is a ray of hope, LGBT rights is now a mainstream issue embraced by the opposition.’