January 22, 2021
Hungary's Latest Attack on LGTBQs: 'Disclaimer' Order to Publisher
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Hungary's harshly anti-LGBTQ government launched a fresh attack on the country's sexual minorities with an order to a publisher mandating a disclaimer on the covers of books with gay themes or content, NBC News reports.
The order was prompted by the publication, last September, of an anthology titled "Wonderland Is For Everyone," which celebrated racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities.
As previously reported at EDGE, " 'Storyland is for Everyone' re-imagines classic fairytales with the inclusion of characters from varied and diverse backgrounds."
Included in the book's contents were a fable about a doe yearning to be transformed into a buck and a poem about two princes marrying, reports UK newspaper the Guardian.
The mandated disclaimer must declare that books containing GLTBQ-related content depict "behavior inconsistent with traditional gender roles," NBC News said.
"The book is sold as a fairytale, called so on its cover and designed accordingly, but it hides the fact that it depicts behavior inconsistent with traditional gender roles," the Hungarian government said in a statement.
The book was published by lesbian rights group Labrisz, which has announced its intention to sue the government for discriminatory treatment.
The government's order followed an earlier episode in which a copy of the book was destroyed by far-right politician Dóra Dúró, who made a spectacle out of ripping the book apart and then feeding it into a shredder during a press conference.
Prime Minister Viktor jumped on the bandwagon, denouncing the book as "homosexual propaganda," the Guardian reported.
Orbán has escalated the government's attacks on LGBTQ people in recent times. NBC News recalled that in 2020 the Hungarian government "banned recognizing transgender identities in official documents, and amended the constitution to declare that in a family 'the father is a man and the mother is a woman,' " a move that effectively put an end to adoptions by same-sex couples in the country.
However, "Orbán's homophobic politics suffered a setback in December," NBC News added, "when a senior European Parliament lawmaker from his Fidesz party was caught fleeing a gay orgy in Brussels, in violation of pandemic restrictions and in possession of drugs."
That official, József Szájer, later stepped down.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
