The European Union’s highest court on Tuesday struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law.
2021 Hungarian Parliament members approved Act LXXIX of 2021.
“Advertising that depicts gratuitous sexuality or promotes or depicts deviation from one’s identity corresponding to one’s birth sex, gender reassignment, or homosexuality is prohibited from being made accessible to persons under the age of 18,” it reads.
European Commission 2022 challenged law. Sixteen EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden) joined the lawsuit. The European Parliament also supported this. Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said his government would uphold the law.
The EU Court of Justice will hear the case in 2024.
A press release announcing Tuesday’s ruling said Hungary “acted in violation of EU law.”
“For the first time, the court has found an individual violation of Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, which is the basis of the Union and enumerates the values common to all member states,” it reads. “Aspects of the revised law that target content that depicts or promotes deviation from the self-identity corresponding to the sex assigned at birth, gender reassignment, or homosexuality amount to a set of coordinated discriminatory measures that clearly and particularly seriously violate the rights of non-cisgender people, including transgender people, or non-heterosexual people, and the values of human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of people belonging to minorities.”
“The law is therefore contrary to the very identity of the (European) Union as a common legal order in a society where pluralism prevails,” the press release said. “Hungary cannot legitimately rely on its national identity as a justification for adopting laws that violate the values mentioned above.”
of hatter association, Hungarian LGBTQ rights groups said the ruling was “a milestone in the protection of human rights in the European Union and also a historic victory for LGBTQI people in Hungary.”
The court’s ruling came nine days after Péter Magyar ousted Orbán in Hungarian elections.
Orbán took office in 2010.
He and his government faced widespread criticism over anti-LGBTQ crackdowns, including laws banning Pride events and other public LGBTQ events. (More than 100,000 people defied the ban last June and took part in Budapest’s annual Pride parade.)
“These amendments constitute a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights protected by the (EU) Charter of Fundamental Rights, namely the prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex,” said the court’s press release.
The EU has withheld more than 35 billion euros ($41.2 billion) in funding for Hungary since Mr. Orbán took office, citing concerns about corruption, rule of law and other issues. Magyar said he would work with Brussels to unfreeze the funds.
ILGA Europe Deputy Director Katrin Hugendubel urged the Mager government to repeal the law.
“With this judgment, the CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) confirms what we have been saying for six years,” said Hugendubel. “The European Commission now has no excuse not to demand that Hungary repeal the law immediately. Hungary cannot enter the post-Orban era without repealing this law, including the anti-pride law.”
“If President Péter Magyar truly wants to be pro-EU, he must make this a top priority in his first 100 days in office as a key part of the EU facing reform,” Hugendeuber added.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
