Hungary's outgoing government violated European law withrules prohibiting or restricting access to LGBTQ content,which stigmatise and marginalise gay and trans people, the European Court of Justiceruledon Tuesday.

TheEuropean Commission, 16 of 27 member states and theEuropean Parliamenttook Hungary to theEuropean Court of Justice(ECJ) over the2021 law, in what has been billed as the largesthuman rightscase in the bloc's history.

Originally aimed at toughening punishments forchild abuse, the law was amended by nationalist prime ministerViktor Orban's ruling coalition to ban the "promotion of homosexuality" to under-18s.

The ruling could provide a test for the future of social policy under Hungary's new leader Peter Magyar, who ended Orban's 16-year rule in a landslide victoryin an April 12 election.

Incoming leader Peter Magyarhas pledged to reset Hungary's ties with the EU and is desperate to unblock some 18 billion euros in funds that were frozen by Brussels under Orban's rule, in part over the LGBTQ law.

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But in his victory speech he said Hungary has decided it wants to be a country where "no one is stigmatised for loving differently or in a different way than the majority".

LGBTQ rights were eroded under Orban, who last year oversaw aban on Pride marchesand let police use facial recognition cameras to identify who attended. Magyar, a former official in Orban's right-wing Fidesz party, campaigned on support for equality but has avoided taking a clear stance onLGBTQ rights.

The court found for the first time that Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) was infringed, including the rights of transgender and non-heterosexual individuals, "as well as the values of respect for human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities".

"Landmark" ruling

The "law is contrary to the very identity of the Union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails", the ECJ said in a statement.

"Hungary cannot validly rely on its national identity as justification for adopting a law which is in breach of the values referred to above", it added.

Hungarian human rights groups called the ruling "historic".

The European Commission in Brussels welcomed it as a "landmark" and said it was now up to the Hungarian government to implement the decision.

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It would be for Hungary's new parliament set to take oath in early May to repeal the law.

The EU sent a delegation of officials to Budapest last week to kick off talks with the incoming government in a bid to hit the ground running once they take power next month.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)

Originally published on France24