Start of Lawsuit against Hungary’s ‘anti-LGBT law’

Monday 13^th February 2023 at 11am

Press Club Brussels Europe

Rue Froissart 95 – 1040 Brussels

On 13 February 2023, this first LGBTIQ+ related infringement procedure to reach the European Court of Justice will be published in the Official Journal of the EU. This marks a crucial moment in the procedure: the opening of a 6-weeks window during which EU Member States will be invited to provide ‘written observations’ on the case to the Court.

Forbidden Colours, Reclaim and the Hungarian NGO Hatter Society launch an EU-wide petition to push EU member states to join the court procedure and say “enough” to Viktor Orban’s scapegoating of LGBTIQ+ communities.

The organizations intend to make this the largest human rights procedure against a member state in the EU’s legal history – as 19 Member States condemned the adoption of this ‘anti-LGBT propaganda’ law in June 2021.

These court proceedings follow the announcement on 15 July 2021 by the European Commission og an infringement procedure against Hungary regarding the ‘anti-LGBT propaganda’ law, adopted in June 2021. Forbidden Colours, Reclaim and Hatter have been leading the advocacy against the law since then.

During this press conference organized in cooperation with the European LGBTIQ Media Association (ELMA), Forbidden Colours, Háttér Society and Reclaim will share their insights on the far-reaching and devastating impact of the law that aims for a complete silencing of the LGBTIQ+ communities in Hungary.

Agenda

11.00 – Presentations of the case and its implications by the following panelists:

• Rémy Bonny, Executive Director of Forbidden Colours, a Belgian NGO working at the European level to defend LGBTIQ+ communities and democracy in Europe;
• Dr Eszter Polgári, Director of the Legal Program in Hatter Society, the largest and oldest LGBTIQ+ civil society organization in Hungary;
• Esther Martinez, Founder and Executive Director of Reclaim, a Brussels-based NGO supporting European civil rights groups, anti-corruption activists, judges, and independent media when their role as democracy’s watchdogs is challenged.

11.30 – Q&A

Moderation by Dr Vincent Reillon, Outreach and Policy Officer at Forbidden Colours