EU court rules Hungary’s LGBTQ law violates human rights | LGBTQ News

European Court of Justice says Hungary has acted in breach of EU law ‘on a number of separate levels’.

The European Union’s highest court has ruled that anti-LGBTQ legislation implemented by the Hungarian government in 2021 violates the bloc’s law.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) found on Tuesday that the Hungarian legislation is contrary to EU law “on a number of separate levels”.

Victory in the case, considered the biggest human rights case in the bloc’s history as it was launched by the European Commission along with 16 of 27 member states and the European Parliament, was hailed as a “landmark”.

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban He insisted when he introduced the legislation five years ago that it was aimed at toughening penalties for child abuse, but it was then amended to ban the “promotion of homosexuality” to under-18s.

The legislation led to the banning of books, plays and films. Critics compared it to Russia’s harsh gay propaganda law of 2013, calling it stigmatizing LGBTQ people and equating same-sex relationships with pedophilia.

However, Orban’s “illiberal” regime continued to press the issue. Last year, it introduced new laws and a constitutional amendment that effectively banned them Budapest Pride March by declaring a determination to protect children from “sexual propaganda”.

However, 100,000 people took part in the event despite the crackdown, the sheer weight of numbers causing the government to back down.

Last month, Orban saw the end of his 16-year rule when he was defeated in elections.

Incoming leader Peter Magyar has vowed to restore Hungary’s ties with the EU and is desperate to unblock some 18 billion euros ($21 billion) in funds frozen by Brussels because of Orban’s democratic backsliding and failure to set up corruption protections.

Although also a conservative, Magyar has avoided taking a clear stance on LGBTQ rights during election campaigns. But in his victory speech, he said Hungary had decided it wanted to be a country where “no one is stigmatized for loving differently or in a different way than the majority.”

Human dignity, equality and respect for human rights

The court found that the legislation infringes Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), including the rights of transgender and non-heterosexual individuals, “as well as the values ​​of respect for human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”

The “law is contrary to the identity of the Union as a general legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails”, the ECJ said in a statement.

“Hungary cannot validly rely on its national identity as justification for adopting a law that is contrary to the values ​​referred to above,” he added.

The European Commission welcomed the ruling as a “landmark” and said it was now up to the Hungarian government to implement the decision.