In Monday’s statement, RTL Hungary denounced homophobia and protested against a bill proposed last week that seriously violates freedom of expression and excludes sexual minorities from the mass media. Hungary’s leading media company is not alone with its point of view – numerous prominent companies of the local media market have joined RTL Hungary in its protest: A+E Networks UK, AMC, HBO and WarnerMedia, as well as ViacomCBS.

“RTL Hungary is concerned that a bill proposed last week seriously undermines freedom of expression and the non-discrimination provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The draft would disproportionately restrict any picturing of homosexuality in the media and disregard fundamental freedoms, moreover, prohibit minors from viewing people of different gender identities in shows, movies, or even commercials.

We are proud that numerous companies of the Hungarian media market – A+E Networks UK, AMC, HBO and WarnerMedia, as well as ViacomCBS – have joined RTL Hungary in making a stand for diversity and against the discrimination of the non-heterosexual community. Thank you for standing up together for a more inclusive, more EU-conform media regulation!” – RTL Hungary said.

However, on Tuesday lawmakers passed the legislation that prohibits sharing with minors any content that portrays being gay or transgender, something supporters said would help fight pedophilia but which human rights groups denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination.

The conservative ruling party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban introduced the legislation, which is the latest effort to curtail the rights of gay men, lesbians, bisexual and transgender people in the central European nation.

Hungary's National Assembly passed the bill on a 157-1 vote. The ruling Fidesz party has a parliamentary majority, and lawmakers from the right-wing Jobbik party also endorsed the measure. One independent lawmaker voted against it.

All other opposition parties boycotted the voting session in protest. Human rights groups had denounced the measure strongly, seeing it as a tool that could be used to stigmatize and harass residents because of their sexual orientations and gender identities.

Some human rights officials have compared it to the so-called gay "propaganda" law passed by Russia in 2013 which human rights officials say has become a tool to harass sexual minorities.

Thousands of LGBT activists and others held a protest in Budapest on Monday in an unsuccessful effort to stop the legislation from passing.

Dunja Mijatovic, the commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, also had asked Hungarian lawmakers to reject the legislation, saying it reinforced prejudice against LGBT people.

The Fidesz party also successfully championed a law making it impossible for trans people to legally change the gender markers on their identity documents. Human rights officials say that puts them at risk of humiliation when they need to present identity documents.