Civil partnership bill stirs fierce criticism

A bill on civil partnerships recently submitted by the Hungarian government has caused considerable controversy among political parties, non-profit organizations and the church. The bill aims to give non-married couples including same-sex couples a legal framework for their relationship and the same rights as married couples, excluding the right to adopt children. Opposition party MDF pointed out that the bill is incorrectly worded and would make bigamy legal. Other groups were more forthright. The Association of Large Families (NOE) said that it is unacceptable to make registered life partnerships equivalent to marriage, while the Alliance of Christian Intellectuals (KÉSZ) called the bill a “hate crime against the sanctity of the family.” The Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (MKPK) believes that, according to the teachings of the Catholic church, the bill is a dangerous attack against a basic institution of society, the family.

MDF said the bill contains mistakes, as it does not specify that a person can be in a registered life partnership with only one other person, and that the life partnership ends if one of the couple marries another person, writes FigyelőNet. The opposition party pointed out that these omissions created a loophole that would allow bigamy and adulterous relationships. The party believes that the governing coalition is only trying to divert attention from its mistakes with this and other hurried bills.

Dr. György Avvakumovits, a member of the board of presidents of the NOE, said that life partnerships should not be made equal to civil marriages, because that would take detract from their significance, writes Hirtv.hu.

According to daily Népszabadság, the MKPK said that the church, the law of nature and the Constitution all state that “family is a life community of a man and a woman that is useful to society, and has the aim of passing along the married couple’s assets and life.” The MKPK said that every attempt that attempts to make relationships outside of marriage their equivalent weakens society and threatens the freedom of the young generation and the healthy development of future generations. The MKPK believes that politicians should “work on bills that strengthen the institution of family and encourage young people to responsibly found families and have children.”