Luxembourg’s openly gay prime minister used the dais of the European Union’s parliament on Wednesday to stand up for LGBT rights in the 27-nation bloc and chastised member state Hungary, which wants to curtail addressing the issue of homosexuality at school and in the media.
“If there’s anyone in this house who thinks that you’ve become a homosexual by watching the television or listening to a song, then you’ve not understood anything. The most difficult (thing) for a homosexual is to accept themselves,” Bettel told legislators at Wednesday’s plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
Bettel has often spoken about his sexuality and for two years already, he has been especially critical of Hungary.
He already came out against Budapest in 2021 when a law was approved to prohibit sharing content on homosexuality or sex reassignment to people under 18 in school sex education programs, films or advertisements.
The EU has accused populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán of cracking down on LGBT rights and has openly challenged them.
Bettel, who married his husband eight years ago, believes Hungary is out of touch with many of the other EU member states.
He said that he knew becoming public about one’s homosexuality could be dangerous in too many nations outside the EU.
“I could end up in prison, face (a) life sentence. And soon maybe, in a European Union member state, I would only be able to talk about this in secret, because I would be accused of perverting the young generation.”
“I am ashamed, Madam President, that some colleagues want to win votes at the expense of minorities. We’ve had that before in our history,” Bettel said,
Bettel has often taken a strong stand. At an EU-Arab League summit in Egypt in 2019, Bettel told Arab leaders that he was married to a man and would probably face capital punishment in many of their countries.
