Hungary strikes again.
The country that is increasingly hostile to LGBTQ people has pushed for another anti-LGBTQ order, according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The government has ordered the Lesbian publishing group Labrisz to include disclaimers for any books containing “behavior inconsistent with traditional gender roles.”
According to government officials, this order was a protective act. The Government office argues that Labrisz’s new gay-inclusive fairytale anthology, “Wonderland Is For Everyone,” could mislead consumers. While the book was created with the intention to teach kids to be respectful of others and their backgrounds, like a gay prince or a dark-skinned version of Snow White named Leaf Brown, it seems the government thinks this perspective is going too far.
“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 Government Office in Budapest said in a statement.
In response to this order, Labrisz is preparing to sue the government for discriminatory and unconstitutional practices.
This is the latest in the increasingly hostile environment and government within Hungary. Back in 2018, anti-LGBTQ fascists attempted to stop the Budapest Pride Parade. Men belonging to the Sixty-Four Counties Youth Movement stood in the middle of the parade path with the intent to hault the festivities. Police quickly moved them away.
This past December, Hungarian lawmakers also changed the definition of family in the constitution to enforce a ban against gay adoption.
The situation in Hungary has gotten so bad that the European Union announced new pro-LGBTQ Rights initiatives to combat the hate. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, announced a four-part plan. The plan includes fighting discrimination, ensuring safety, protecting rights of rainbow families, and supporting LGBTQ+ equality in member states and around the world. They hope to do that by extending the list of crimes in Europe to include homophobic hate speech and creating new laws to ensure same-sex parenthood legalization.
Though, Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ push also led the country open for a scandal. Conservative politician József Szájer, a senior member of Hungary’s Fidesz party that has pushed for anti-LGBTQ legislation like the banning of marriage equality, was discovered at a 20-person sex party in late 2020.
That party, which was made up mostly of men, made headlines all over the world. In addition, police found Szájer after the politician tried to climb out of a window. They later found narcotics in his backpack. Szájer later resigned from his position.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation,
