The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Tuesday that Hungaryʼs 2021 LGBTQ law breached EU founding values.
This is the first time that the top EU court found an infringement of Article 2 of The Treaty of the European Union, which contains the values on which the union is founded and are shared by all the member states, including Hungary.
Several of the amendments of the Hungary law, the CJEU said, “constitute a coordinated series of discriminatory measures” against “the rights of non-cisgender persons — including transgender persons — or nonheterosexual persons,” the judges argued. The problematic parts are also against respect for human dignity, equality, and human rights, “including the rights of persons belonging to minorities,” according to the decision.
The Hungary law contained amendments strengthening penalties against pedophilia, protecting minors, as well as limitations on promoting LGBTQ and gender-related issues and themes for minors, mainly in schools.
The law was passed by outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been in power since 2010 and lost recent elections held on April 12. It was the European Commission, one of the main institutions of the EU, that brought an action for “failure to fulfill obligations” before the Court of Justice.
The court also lamented “the offensive and stigmatizing nature of the amending law” as well as “discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation,” and “a preference for certain identities and sexual orientations to the detriment of others.”
Moreover, the court underlined “a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights” such as private and family life and found a breach of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) as well as the right to the protection of data.
Orbán reacted to the decision saying: “Our patriotic government protected Hungarian children from aggressive LGBTQ propaganda. Brusselian empire now strikes back.” The politician promised he would “not give up the fight for the soul of Europe!”
The Hungarian Conservative media outlet noted that “Western mainstream media and politicians welcomed the ruling,” while “many right-wing activists and political commentators criticized the court’s decision.”
The case “raises great concerns about whether courts are narrowing the space” for “states to legislate on moral or child-protection grounds,” a global network of natural law scholars said in response to the ruling.
The International Society of Natural Law Scholars also noted that the courtʼs ruling exposes a “tension between national authority over education, culture, and family policy” on one hand and “supranational enforcement of rights and nondiscrimination norms” on the other.
Some have questioned the timing of the ruling, coming shortly after the parliamentary elections in Hungary. The winning party, Tisza, is led by former government insider Péter Magyar, who is expected to succeed Orbán.
Hungarian analysts told the National Catholic Register on April 10 that Magyar was a conservative, while others suggested he may bring “dangerous trends,” leading to “worse legislation” in favor of “abortion, euthanasia, and LGBTQ issues.”
The Hungarian Conservative also noted that “the future of the child protection law remains unclear” as Magyar largely avoided speaking about the gender issues during his campaign but said after his election: “Everyone can live with whoever they love as long as they do not violate laws and are not harmful to others.’”
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