(LifeSiteNews) — The European Union’s high court ruled on Tuesday that Hungary’s pro-family legislation passed under Prime Minister Viktor Órban violates EU law, opening the door to financial penalties on the conservative country.
In 2021, Hungary banned the promotion of homosexuality and transgenderism to minors – including on television and in advertisements – prohibited pro-LGBT “sexual education,” and introduced stronger penalties for child sexual abuse material.
The European Court of Justice said that Hungary’s ban on LGBT promotion to minors broke EU law because it violates the union’s rules against “discrimination based on sexual orientation” and “stigmatizes” people who claim to be homosexual or “transgender.”
The unprecedented decision also declared that Hungary violated the “founding values” of the EU in Article 2 of the EU Treaty. “Consequently, that law is contrary to the very identity of the Union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails,” the court claimed.
The ruling is the first time that the European Court of Justice has found a country’s law to have violated the EU’s “founding values” in Article 2.
The high court condemned Hungary’s legislation for displaying “a preference for certain identities and sexual orientations to the detriment of others, which are stigmatised as a result, which is incompatible with the requirements flowing, in a society in which pluralism prevails, from the prohibition on discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation.”
“In view of such a failure to respect the essence of that prohibition, the restrictions at issue do not appear to be justified under any circumstances by, inter alia, the objective of promoting the best interests of the child,” it added.
The ruling notably comes just nine days after Órban lost to pro-EU challenger Péter Magyar, ending Órban’s 16-year reign as prime minister.
According to the decision, the European Commission can “bring a further action seeking financial penalties” if Hungary does not comply with the ruling.
Órban’s government has pushed back strongly against LGBT ideology, banning homosexual adoption, eliminating “gender studies” courses, requiring disclaimers for pro-LGBT books targeting children, and enshrining the natural family into Hungary’s constitution.