EU values, LGBTQI+ rights and the future of democracy in Hungary and beyond: On the wider significance of case C-769/22

Benedetta Lobina* and Esther Martínez** * re:constitution fellow and lecturer at the UCD Sutherland School of Law ** Co-founder and director of RECLAIM, a human rights NGO that campaigned for Member States to join in the proceedings in this case against Hungary Photo credit: Budapest Pride march 2025, photo by bannedpride via Wikimedia Commons In what has been a momentous 10 days for Hungary, after the elections that ousted Orban as Prime Minister after 16 years, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its much-anticipated judgment in the Hungarian “anti-LGBT propaganda” case. This case is remarkable for a number of reasons: for the first time, the Court found a breach of Article 2 TEU as a stand-alone plea in law; it expanded upon the protection of LGBTQI+ rights under the scope of EU law; and it saw an unprecedented number of interventions in support of the Commission, namely from the European Parliament and 16 Member States. Additionally, the timing of the Court’s…