The Dutch prime minister criticised Hungary’s anti-LGBT law because “he has no children”, a Theology don has suggested.

Speaking to Hungarian magazine Mandiner at the end of March (30/3), Dr James Orr said he was “shocked” at Mark Rutte’s suggestion that Hungary should not be in the EU due to the legislation, and argued that because “a significant proportion of the current EU leaders are childless”, they “do not even understand why child protection is important.”

Last July, Rutte said that “Hungary has no business being in the EU anymore” after their parliament passed legislation banning the “display or promotion” of homosexuality or gender change in television programmes and films for under 18s, as well as sexual education programs in schools.

Orr went on to say that the family and religious communities are “like the stem cells of European societies”, adding that they should “belong to the non-political sphere and should not be put under pressure in the name of any political ideology.”

When asked about whether the state should “set limits” on gender identity and restrict “sexual propaganda affecting minors”, Dr Orr replied: “I don’t think the state should provide a legal option or help for a teenager to have surgical interventions. We shouldn’t allow activists to have a big impact on children, they are playing with fire.”

Dr Orr also criticised modern liberal ideology, saying that “liberals want to ‘liberate’ us from the values of human dignity.”

Reacting to the interview, a source within the Divinity faculty said that Dr Orr’s comments “lack both ethical probity and intellectual rigour.”

“In towing Orbán’s line that children are in danger from representations of happy gay and trans people, he endorses the grotesque, historic conflation of homosexuality and paedophilia. Meanwhile, the suggestion that only people with children are qualified for public office is straightforwardly a fascist dog whistle.

“Baseless arguments like this refute any pretence that Professor Orr is invested in rigorous academic debate.”

Dr James Orr has been contacted for comment.