EU leadership is now fanatically dictating that Hungary and its 'defiant' prime minister Vickor Orban must bow the knee to the Pride Flag or else "must leave" the European Union.
Quoting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, The Telegraph describes massive pushback against a new Hungarian law which seeks to prevent the public promotion of homosexuality and transgenderism in front of children and minors:
Mark Rutte, the prime minister of the Netherlands, said Hungary either "must leave" the EU or repeal the law, which bans TV shows and other content seen as championing LGBT lifestyles for the under-18s.
However, some eastern European governments refused to join 17 of the bloc’s 27 countries in a rare joint statement condemning a fellow member state.
Other EU leaders, like European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, have been claiming that the law actively discriminates against LGBT people.
However, defenders of the Hungarian law have pointed out it puts decision-making on presenting these issues to children in the hands of parents and family members. Orban himself, for example, said the law and policy is fundamentally about "defending the rights of the kids and the parents" and is not about discrimination.
Orban said this week at the summit: “Homosexuality was punished, and I fought for their freedom and their rights,” concluding that "I am defending the rights of the homosexual guys. But this law is not about that."
But the EU summit which met this is acting as if it's a declaration of war on human rights, and is vowing to respond accordingly:
Western leaders have said they will bring Hungary "to its knees" over a law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools at a bitter EU summit on Thursday.
This Hungarian bill is a shame.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) June 23, 2021
It discriminates people on the basis of their sexual orientation & goes against the EU's fundamental values.
We will not compromise.
I will use all the legal powers of @EU_Commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed. pic.twitter.com/RzWPpue0CD
Here were Dutch PM Rutte's words threatening to boot Hungary or any country that follows, though the actual power to do so remains a very different question...
"My goal is to bring Hungary to its knees on this issue," he said.
"They must realize that they are either part of the European Union and this community of values, which means that in Hungary… no one can be discriminated against and [everyone] can feel free on grounds of sexuality, skin color, gender whatever."
But again Hungary has maintained that it's all about the protection of children at a time that transgender advocates and even certain NGOs operating in Europe and elsewhere in the globe are actively seeking to convince young people to take irreversible steps to alter their bodies through surgeries and be subject to potentially dangerous hormone treatments.
Just before the EU summit and these end of week Dutch-Hungary fireworks, a Hungarian spokesman had said:
"We stand ready to debate the law with those who have spoken out against it," he told the BBC on Tuesday. "The law is strictly about the protection of children. It says that for minors under 18, sexual education has to be appropriate and what we don’t want is the intrusion of so-called LGBTQ+ lobby NGOs and pressure groups walking into kindergartens and schools to explain to children why it’s a great idea to have hormone treatments and operations to change their sex before they’re 18. These are not acceptable practices."
Dutch leader tells Hungary: If you don’t like LGBT rights, you can leave the E.U. https://t.co/igCnRbiHTH
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 25, 2021
As has been amply documented, in places like the United Kingdom, Canada, and United States, this kind of thing is already happening.
Recall that over a year ago things had already gotten somewhat personal between Rutte and Orban, specifically related to the controversial push to link EU funding to 'rule of law' issues, something seen as specifically targeting Hungary as well as other more socially conservative states, particularly in Eastern Europe.
In summer of 2020 as that controversy raged, Orban had said of PM Rutte: "I don’t know what is the personal reason for the Dutch prime minister to hate me or Hungary, but he is attacking so harshly, and making very clear that because Hungary in his opinion does not respect the rule of law, [it] must be punished financially. That’s his position, which is not acceptable because there is no decision about what is the rule of law situation in Hungary."
