Necessary for some, discriminatory for others, Hungary's so-called “child protection law” has been the subject of a hearing at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Whatever its nature, the ruling could further determine the already tense relationship between Hungary and its EU partners.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Censorship is working in a very intricate way right now in Hungary.
00:04The government actually outsourced censorship.
00:09Necessary for some, discriminatory for others,
00:12the so-called Children's Protection Law of Hungary
00:15has been the subject of a hearing in the European Court of Justice.
00:20Whatever the case, the failure promises to further determine
00:24the tense relationship between Hungary and the European Union.
00:28After the turbulent debates that began after the adoption of the law in 2021.
00:38The so-called Children's Protection Law restricts the access of minors
00:42to books, movies and cultural products
00:45that promote or portray the deviation of identity
00:48regarding the sex of birth, gender reassignment or homosexuality.
00:54It also limits sexual education in schools
00:57and only teachers approved by the government can teach the subject.
01:02The Hungarian executive on the far right claims
01:05that he seeks to protect children from pedophilia and moral content.
01:09Prime Minister Viktor Orban has reiterated
01:12that only parents can decide about the sexual education of their children.
01:17Books with LGTBQ references were removed from bookstores
01:23or can only be shown wrapped in plastic.
01:27The European Commission initiated an infraction procedure in 2022.
01:31Sixteen community countries and the European Parliament
01:34helped to bring the case before the Court of Justice of the EU.
01:38Critics claim that the law adds to the legal, homo- and transphobic tissue
01:43built by Viktor Orban and his Fidesz party
01:46after more than a decade in power.
01:49Previous laws adopted in 2020
01:52had prohibited same-sex couples from adopting children
01:55and eliminated the legal recognition of transgender people.
02:05The LGBT community in Hungary claims to feel pointed out
02:09and speaks openly about the fear that the law causes them
02:12since its implementation, however,
02:15the support has increased considerably.
02:1867% of Hungarians support the legal recognition of same-sex couples
02:24compared to 54% in 2015.
02:28How do their members live this apparently contradictory situation?
02:33The sculptor Gidaon Horvath lives and works in Budapest.
02:38He mainly uses ceramic and beeswax
02:41to evoke the ambivalent duality of human nature
02:45in a plastic exploration of queer identities.
03:03I don't like to talk about myself as a queer artist
03:06because it puts me into this box that is really not easy to get out of.
03:10Queer theories really like to dismantle binary point of views,
03:16polarized point of views,
03:18and queer theories are helping a lot with finding these ambivalent grounds
03:23and subversive point of views
03:25and help us to understand the structures that we are living in
03:30in a much more nuanced way.
03:39This work in particular was the victim of the controversial law, he says.
03:47It was exhibited for the first time in a cultural space outdoors,
03:50but when it was later exhibited in a national museum,
03:53the official catalogue and description
03:55eliminated all mention of its artistic queer meaning.
04:25The current legal context in Hungary also harms him on a personal level,
04:29as he says he feels helpless in the face of sporadic episodes
04:33but growing episodes of hate speech.
04:55In powerful positions who facilitate this hate speech
05:00and I'm very frustrated of course.
05:07I don't feel like I'm a citizen of Hungary
05:10with as much rights as a heterosexual citizen would have.
05:15I am at the age where I'm thinking a lot about starting a family, having children,
05:21and there's no legal option right now to do that.
05:35Four government offices, the Fidesz ruling party
05:38and a pro-government civil association
05:41rejected our request for an interview.
05:44In their legal fight against the law,
05:46the European Commission cited violations of Article 2 of the Treaty of the Union
05:50and its principles on values of human dignity, fundamental rights,
05:54protection, equality and solidarity.
05:58This approach is a clear sign of the transcendence of the case
06:02and its final sentence, says this expert in jurisprudence of European human rights.
06:10Article 2 is the one protecting human rights, European values, rule of law,
06:15everything that is shared among the member states
06:19and underlines the whole concept of European integration.
06:23So I hope that there is no debate on these values.
06:26The law itself violates our right to freedom of expression,
06:30it's also sort of a violation of freedom of association.
06:34Probably the most important from a human rights perspective
06:37is like children's rights to have access to information which is objective,
06:41which is scientifically proven, which is correct
06:46and because now they are deprived of the possibility to receive information
06:51in an organized setting, for example in schools,
06:54and they will rely on the internet,
06:56which is not the most reliable source of information
06:59when it comes to sexuality and sexual orientation and gender identity.
07:03I mean it's definitely tension between Hungary and the European Union
07:08because of actions that don't comply with the EU law.
07:11This is far from being the only one.
07:14So we have issues with migration, also the rule of law.
07:18The Hungarian government so far, except for the ruling on migration,
07:22has implemented the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union.
07:27So there is some likelihood that the government will comply with it.
07:35The European Commission has recommended that the EU funds for Hungary
07:38remain frozen due to violations of the principles of the rule of law.
07:43We will have to wait months until the final judgment
07:46of the Court of Justice of the European Union.