On Tuesday, 21 March, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) decided to join the European Commission in taking legal action against Hungary for its “anti-LGBT propaganda” law. This initiative was adopted in camera by a vote of 18 to 2 and welcomed by the members of the European Parliament’s LGBTI Intergroup.
Under the guise of protecting children, this Hungarian law prohibits persons under 18 from accessing content “which promotes or portrays gender identities that do not correspond to the sex assigned at birth, sex reassignment or homosexuality”.
Passed in 2021, it had provoked indignation in the EU and Member States (see EUROPE 12746/1). After infringement proceedings and for lack of a satisfactory response to concerns regarding equality and the protection of fundamental rights, the European Commission finally brought the matter before the Court of Justice of the EU last December (see EUROPE 12994/1).
Link to the action: https://aeur.eu/f/5xf
While EU countries can join the lawsuit, only Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, and the Netherlands have so far. “I call on the other Member States—France and Germany in particular—to take part in this trial and thus stand on the side of freedom”, stated Vice-President of the LGBTI Intergroup Pierre Karleskind (Renew Europe, French). (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)