'I'm ashamed': Luxembourg's PM Xavier Bettel denounces Viktor Orbán and Hungary's anti-LGBT law

In a candid but defiant intervention before the European Parliament, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel launched a blistering attack against his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orbán, and the anti-LGBT legislation his government has introduced.

"I'm ashamed to see that some of my colleagues want to win votes at the expense of minorities," Bettel, who is one of two openly gay leaders of a European Union country, said on Wednesday morning.

"This has already happened in our history."

The Hungarian law, passed in June 2021 and officially called Child Protection Act, contains one provision that prohibits or heavily restricts depictions of homosexuality and gender reassignment in media content and educational material addressed to audiences under 18 years of age.

This triggered an enormous political backlash and a lawsuit before the European Court of Justice, which was filed by the European Commission and is backed by 15 member states, including Luxembourg.

"If there's anyone in this Parliament who thinks you become homosexual by watching TV, if there's anyone who thinks you become homosexual by listening to a song, then you prove you have understood nothing," Bettel told MEPs in Strasbourg.

"The most difficult for a homosexual is to accept himself," he went on, prompting applause.

"We don't demand pity, we don't demand solidarity, we don't demand compassion. We only demand respect."

Recalling his own experience in coming out, Bettel raised awareness about the challenges that LGBT people face around the world, including in countries where homosexuality is punishable by death.

"Do you know how many young people commit suicide because they can't talk about their own homosexuality?" the Luxembourgish premier said.

"To stigmatise them