Fourteen Member States signed a declaration calling the European Commission to act against breaches of LGBTIQ+ rights, as well as pledging to develop a litigation strategy to support EU institutions in court cases "where the protection of EU values in general and LGBTIQ persons in particular is at stake".

18 Member States signed a joint letter expressing their concern about Hungary's anti-LGBTIQ+ law,arguing that it was flagrantly discriminatory and an attack on EU values. They urged the European Commission to bring the matter before the European Court of Justice, and recalled their commitment to protect the rights of all EU citizens.

Hungarian voters are asked to back Orbán's anti-LGBTI policies in a referendum. The referendum did not reach the required threshold of valid votes. However, NGOs campaigning against the referendum were fined. 

The Commission suspends over €700 million in EU cohesion funding due to Hungary's refusal to repeal the "anti-gay propaganda law", arguing that it violates the horizontal enabling condition related to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, a precondition for accessing EU funds.

The anti-LGBTIQ+ law requires bookstores to wrap books with LGBTIQ+ characters in foil and move them to the +18 section and imposes a total sale ban if the store is 200m away from church or school. Hungary's second-largest bookstore chain has been fined EUR 32,000, and others consider the removal of LGBTIQ+ titles altogether.

The Hungarian Media Council contacted the media authoritiies of other EU Member States 24 times to take action against service providers registered outside Hungary that were displaying LGBTIQ+ characters in their broadcast.

Hungary faced the Commission, the EP and 16 Member States at a historic hearing in Luxembourg. Everyone agreed that the LGBTIQ+ propaganda ban has no place in EU's legal order, and that it even breached Art. 2 TEU. Click on "read more" for our BSKY thread on the hearing's main moments and discussions.  

Despite large-scale protests, the Hungarian Parliament passed Act LXXIX of 2021 and Government Decree 473/2021 (VIII.6.), known as the Propaganda Law, on 15 June 2021. The law bans inclusive sex-education at schools and establishes great hurdles for the sale of goods or broadcasting of stories with LGBTIQ+ characters.

The European Commission launches an infringement procedure against Hungary for violating EU directives on media services, e-commerce, EU single market freedoms and human rights enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights - as well as Article 2 TEU.

The Commission brings Hungary before the Court of Justice of the EU following 18 months of unsuccessful efforts to persuade the country to repeal the legislation. The initiation of legal proceedings was officially announced in the EU's Official Journal on February 13, 2023. 

A historical number of member states came together to overturn the anti-LGBTIQ+ law and prevent its replication elsewhere in Europe. On the deadline for written submissions (6 April 2023), 15 member states had already joined the case, with Estonia doing so for the oral phase.

Hungary's Media Council marks the 2023 Budapest Pride TV commercial as unsuitable/harmful for minors and prohibited a TV station, RTL, from broadcasting it between 5 AM and 10 PM.

A far right politician demanded that kids' entry to the World Press Photo Exhibition at the National Museum depicting elderly LGBT people be banned. The Head of the National Museum was fired over refusing to enforce the censorship.