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Back in December we learned that Hungary had approved a draft version of a new constitution that outlaws same-sex marriage. Today lawmakers there officially adopted that constitution. The 2009 law granting same-sex couples some rights after registering their partnerships remains in effect.
International Viewpoint predicts that the EU will do little about Hungary's newly official ban.
The European commission scarcely dares to take action when member states invoke religious freedom to disregard EU-fundamental rights. For example, in the case of Lithuania, where a law was passed that bans the “promotion of homosexuality," effectively rendering gay people invisible. The controversial Hungarian media law also includes a paragraph of this type, which states that the media must show respect for marriage and the institution of family, whereby the government aims to constitutionally enshrine the definition of marriage as being between a man and woman. The new Hungarian media supervisor has already qualified public expressions of homosexuality as in conflict with these standards, and therefore potentially punishable under the new law. Discrimination of this type is clearly in conflict with the ban on discrimination in the EU treaties.RELATED: Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in January.
Under pressure from the EU, cell phone manufacturers in Europe have agreed to adopt a universal charger that works on all phones. This ad is their creepy way of spreading the news.
"David Kato was a man that fought for the rights of people to live freely regardless of their sexual orientation in Uganda. David Kato suffered a violent death and I send my condolences to his family. I call for the perpetrators of this crime to be brought to justice. He was a remarkable human rights defender. I regret that Uganda is a country where homosexuality is still considered a criminal act. David Kato's battle was to improve tolerance and encourage tolerance of divergent views of sexuality and defend the rights for lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender persons and protect vulnerable minorities." - European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek, responding to yesterday's murder with a renewed call for Uganda to decriminalize homosexuality.
