Politico Europe reports:

Hungary violated EU law when it banned children from accessing LGBTQ+ content, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled Tuesday, ordering Budapest to scrap the legislation. The landmark judgment marks a blow to outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s legacy as his longtime rival Péter Magyar prepares to take office next month.

Hungary’s legislative crackdown on LGBTQ+ representation is in breach of a series of EU laws and “constitute[s] a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights,” the Court said in a press release, siding with the infringement procedure originally lodged by the European Commission.

The case concerns Hungary’s 2021 law restricting or banning the “promotion” of homosexuality and gender transition in media accessible to children, which Budapest introduced when it adopted the EU’s audiovisual rulebook and its provisions on protecting children from harmful content.

The Guardian reports:

Péter Magyar won a landslide election victory last week after promising to root out corruption and improve living standards, but the incoming prime minister has been muted on whether he will roll back the anti-LGBTQ+ policies introduced by Viktor Orbán, who was defeated after 16 years in power.

He has vowed to “bring home” EU funds intended to help Hungary develop its economy, some of which were frozen over the anti-LGBTQ+ law. A larger part was suspended over risks to academic freedom, breaches of the right to asylum, and concerns about corruption and lack of judicial independence.

The ruling marks the first time the ECJ has found a member state guilty of breaking EU law based exclusively on breaching the bloc’s fundamental values described in article 2 of its treaty. These include respect for human dignity, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for fundamental rights, including those of minorities.

The BBC reports:

The ECJ ruled that the Hungarian law interfered with rights such as a ban on discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation, respect for private and family life and freedom of expression and information. The law also stigmatised and marginalised people who were transgender or not heterosexual and associated them with people convicted of paedophilia, the court found.

The Hungarian law was “contrary to the very identity of the Union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails”, it ruled. John Morijn, professor of law and politics in international relations at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, said the Court’s ruling was historic in its symbolism, in that it meant the rights of a group in society could not be negotiated away.