The European Union is officially taking Hungary and Poland to court for alleged human rights abuses against the LGBTQ+ community. The European Commission announced on Thursday it is filing action over actions the EU’s executive branch claims discriminates against LGBTQ+ people.
In June, Hungary passed a Russia-style “propaganda” law banning the promotion of “homosexuality” or “gender change” to minors in schools and the media, including everything from TV to advertisements. Meanwhile, over 100 municipalities in Poland have declared themselves “LGBT free” in a series of symbolic resolutions passed since 2019.
These policies violate Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union, according to the European Commission. While the 1992 declaration does not specifically mention LGBTQ+ equality, a press release claims the treaty enshrines “equality and the respect for dignity and human rights [as] core values of the EU.”
The legal action was widely expected after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged last week that the EU would employ “all powers available” to oppose the anti-LGBTQ+ crackdown in Hungary and Poland. In addition to its “propaganda” law, Hungary has also passed legislation since 2020 banning trans people from correcting their legal gender marker and outlawing same-sex adoptions.
Hungary and Poland will have two months to respond to the suit before the case moves forward. The lawsuit could end up ultimately decided by the European Court of Justice, the EU’s highest legal authority, which has the ability to impose significant fines against the nations over their LGBTQ+ rights violations.
Hungary’s “propaganda” law, which formally went into effect last week, had already caused major harm to the country’s LGBTQ+ community. An independent bookstore in Budapest was slapped with a $700 fine for selling a book depicting same-sex families, while a transgender teacher in the Hungarian capital city recently told Reuters that he worries he could be forced out of his job.
“I kept pouring over the law to see whether I could even continue teaching,” said Floris Fellegi-Balta, who teaches high school chemistry. “One interpretation of the law is that by showing up and teaching, I am displaying transsexuality.”
But despite major backlash against the draconian policies — including calls from foreign leaders to leave the EU — Hungary has signaled that it is not backing down. Last week, the chief of staff for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Gergely Gulyás, told Reuters that the EU’s “efforts to have us allow LGBT+ activists into schools and nursery schools are in vain,” and Orbán personally spoke out against the pending lawsuit. “The European Commission’s stance is shameful,” the far-right leader said in an interview with a government-run Hungarian radio station, according to Reuters. He went on to liken the EU’s actions to “legalized hooliganism.”
Source: them.us
