'This bill is a shame': Angela Merkel slams Hungary govt over new anti-LGBT law

Joining the European Union’s (EU’s) chief executive, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also slammed Hungary’s new law that would ban content portraying or promoting homosexuality or sex reassignment to children. In a statement to the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, Merkel said, “I believe this law is incorrect and incompatible with my beliefs” while also adding that the Hungarian bill is something that she would vote against politically. Just last week, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill that prohibits sharing content on homosexuality and sex reassignment in school education materials and television programmes for children below 18.

Proposed by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s cabinet, the bill still needs to be endorsed by President Janos Ader. The European Union’s chief executive on June 23 pledged to take necessary action against the new law in Hungary even though the Hungarian government has touted the bill as a way to protect children. Merkel’s remarks against the bill came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the legislation a “shame.”

“This Hungarian bill is a shame,” von der Leyen said. “This bill clearly discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation. It goes against the fundamental values of the European Union: human dignity, equality and respect for human rights.”

“I believe in a European Union where you are free to be who you are and love whomever you want,” she said in a statement. “I will use all the powers of the commission to ensure that the rights of all EU citizens are guaranteed. Whoever they are and wherever they live within the European Union.”

European Commission Prez to send letter to Hungary

Von der Leyen also said that she has directed her commissioners to send a letter to Hungary outlining her legal concerns of the newly-passed bill before it becomes a law. The Commission proposes legislation on behalf of the 27 members of the European Union and called for Hungary to respect those rules. However, von der Leyen was in return slammed by the Hungarian government who called her statement “a shame because it is based on false allegations” and “because it publishes a biased political opinion without a previously conducted, impartial inquiry.”

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