The Hungarian government was “mistaken” when it thought the European Union would be interested in its position on Hungary’s new sex education law, Justice Minister Judit Varga said in a blog post on abouthungary.hu.
The minister posted an op-ed on Hungary’s new law which she said Brussels-based news outlet Politico had refused to publish. In the op-ed, the minister said that “no one” in the international press cared that a joint statement issued by several European countries expressing concern over the law “contains false allegations and falsifies the merit of the Hungarian law by suppressing essential parts thereof”. “No one cares to notice that the focus of the law is the protection of children from any kind of sexuality – hence it cannot, by definition, be discriminatory,” Varga added.
She said the signatory member states had not even bothered to ask the government for an official explanation of the law before issuing their statement. “Criticisms instead have generated an artificial conflict between the rights of children and the rights of LGBT. Is this really the embodiment of the loyal cooperation enshrined in the Treaties?” Varga said the new law was about guaranteeing the rights or parents and “guaranteeing the rights of parents and protecting minors from accessing content that may contradict the educational principles their parents chose to teach them until they become adults themselves”.
The minister also cited the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union as stating that “the right of parents to ensure the education and teaching of their children in conformity with their religious, philosophical and pedagogical convictions” must be respected. The minister added that sexual orientation and gender identity fell under strict constitutional protection in Hungary. “In Hungary, everybody is free to express their sexual identity as they see fit, as Hungarian legislation guarantees fundamental rights to the full extent for each minority,” she said.
hungarymatters.hu
