This Note will challenge LGBTQ+ censorship laws at an international level by using their child protection justification against them. Rather than protecting children, censorship laws are harming them by interfering with their right to act as human rights defenders. LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and children should be equipped with the knowledge and means to challenge all types of human rights violations. While international challenges to the censorship laws have historically faced pushback due to the pervasive nature of the child protection defense, recent cases show that supranational bodies are more willing to scrutinize the use of this defense, specifically when this defense conflicts with rights that are fundamental to international democracy. Challenging these laws through the implied right to act as a child human rights defender emphasizes the obligations of States to protect child human rights defenders, highlights the danger censorship laws pose to international democracy, and encourages supranational bodies to adopt a bright-line rejection of LGBTQ+ censorship laws.
