Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga wrote a letter to EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton defending Hungary’s Child Protection Law, which liberal media have branded as anti-LGBTQ.
“After adopting the Child Protection Act, the European Commission sent an official letter to the Hungarian Government on 15 July 2021, hence initiating an infringement proceeding against Hungary. They try to punish us only because we don’t let the LGBTQ lobby into Hungarian schools and kindergartens,” Varga wrote in a Facebook post.
‘In a reply sent to EU Commissioner Thierry Breton by the deadline on Wednesday, I have spelled out very clearly the Hungarian government’s position on the infringement proceeding started because of the Child Protection Act, while I also pointed out the material and professional errors in the Commission’s formal notice.”
Varga said that Hungary will protect its culture and national identity, as well as the family values rooted in them: As a free and independent country, this right is guaranteed by both EU and international law. Under the Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, neither the Union nor any other body has the right to prescribe how Hungarian parents should raise their children in Hungary.
“We continue to ensure that only parents can decide how to raise their own child. No one can force them to let their child receive sexual information without their approval or face harmful content that is inappropriate for their age. Educational lectures should be given only by qualified personnel in the presence of a teacher,” Varga wrote.
“We reject categorically the assumption that the purpose of the law would be exclusion or discrimination; it is only about the upbringing of Hungarian children and the protection of minors. The law does not interfere in the life of adults in any way, it does not violate the rights of sexual minorities in any way.”
Varga also stressed that in Hungary, the rights of religious, ethnic, sexual and any other minorities are guaranteed. “The Hungarian Fundamental Law strictly prohibits, and our laws strictly punish, any exclusion and discrimination of minorities,” she wrote.
Title image: Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga. (source: Facebook)
