“Family is family” initiative counters Hungary’s restrictive adoption policies

The Hungarian government has taken legal steps against the adoption of children by rainbow families. Marriage has been defined as “the union of a man and a woman” in the Fundamental Law, and the concept of family has also been narrowed down: “Family ties shall be based on marriage or the relationship between parents and children. The mother is female, the father is male.”

The adoption of children would, in accordance, also be restricted: only married couples would be eligible, while a single parent would need specific approval from the Minister of Family Policy for adopting a child.

These are alarming changes, severely limiting the rights of prospective adoptive parents and the chances of children who are waiting for adoption.

Coverage of these developments can be found here (CBC website) and here (Budapest Pride page).

A civil initiative has started a counter-movement, called “Family is family,” to show that we can and should think more inclusively about families. They ask people to tell what family means to them and take a selfie with the logo of the movement on their palm, and post it to Facebook using the hashtag #acsaladazcsalad.

The campaign’s website has both Hungarian and English versions.

This post contributed by the Hungarian team of Erzsébet and Zoltán — köszönöm csapat! The campaign’s logo is used by courtesy of the “Family is family” initiative organizers.