EU court finds Hungary's anti-LGBTQ legislation violates bloc's rules

Hungary's ⁠outgoing government violated ​European law with rules prohibiting or restricting ​access to LGBTQ content, which stigmatise and marginalise gay and trans people, the European Court ​of ‌Justice ruled on Tuesday. The European Commission, 16 of 27 member states and the European Parliament took Hungary to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the 2021 law, in what has been billed as the largest human rights case in the bloc's history. Originally aimed at toughening punishments for child abuse, the law was amended by nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban's ruling coalition to ban the "promotion of homosexuality" to under-18s. The ⁠ruling could provide a test for the future ‌of social policy under Hungary's new leader Peter ⁠Magyar, who ended Orban's 16-year rule in a landslide ​victory in an April 12 ‌election. Incoming leader Peter Magyar has pledged to reset Hungary's ties with the EU and is desperate to unblock some 18 billion euros in funds that were frozen by Brussels under Orban's rule, in part over the LGBTQ law. Read moreOrban ousted: What Magyar’s victory means for Hungary and the EU But in his victory speech he said Hungary has decided it wants to be a country where "no one is stigmatised for loving differently or in a different way than the majority". LGBTQ rights were eroded under Orban, who last year oversaw a ban on Pride ‌marches and let police use facial recognition cameras to ​identify who attended. Magyar, a former official in Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, campaigned on support ​for equality but has avoided taking ​a clear stance on LGBTQ ​rights. The court found for the first time that Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) was infringed, 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". "Landmark" ruling The "law is contrary to the very identity of the Union as a common 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 which is in breach of the values referred to above", it added. Hungarian human rights groups called the ruling "historic". The European Commission in Brussels welcomed it as a "landmark" and said it was now up to the Hungarian government to implement the decision. Read more'They are stealing the election': How Armenia became the next Russia-EU battlefield It would be for Hungary's new parliament set to take oath in early May to repeal the law. The EU sent a delegation of officials to Budapest last week to kick off talks with the incoming government in a bid to hit the ground running once they take power next month. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)