Europe’s top court has ruled against Hungary’s homophobic laws, further dismantling Viktor Orbán’s far-right legacy which drew inspiration from Russian-style policies.
The Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice on Tuesday (21 April) said Hungary’s child protection laws were unlawful because they stigmatised and marginalised the LGBTQI community.
The case, launched by the European Commission in 2021, took aim at a series of amendments in various national legislative acts that claimed to protect children.
But in reality, the amendments restricted access to content that promoted sex assigning at birth, gender reassignment, or homosexuality.
Hungarian civil society groups first alerted the commission to a potential breach after the law’s adoption in June 2021, describing it as closely modelled on Russian legislation.
“This case did not happen by accident,” said Rémy Bonny, executive director of Forbidden Colours, one of three NGOs behind the case.
![As birthrates decline and the workforce empties out, “in some countries, [people] are obliged to retire,”](https://static.euobserver.com/2005/04/677e4ac7c530bd9e00eb0ac007326e19.jpg)
Nikolaj Nielsen