Hungary Penalizes Bookstore Chain For LGBT+ Novel

Heartstopper, an LGBT+ graphic novel, was the subject of a severe fine from a government agency in Hungary because it allegedly broke a disputed rule that forbids depicting homos*xuality to children.

Lira Konyv is the second-largest chain of bookstores in Hungary. It was penalized 12 million forints (£27,500) for including the well-known Alice Oseman series in its section for young readers and for failing to package it as required by a 2021 law.

According to state news agency MTI, the Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, which handed out the consumer protection fine, looked into the book’s sale by the retailer.

“The investigation found that the books in question depicted homos*xuality, but they were nevertheless placed in the category of children’s books and youth literature and were not distributed in closed packaging,” the office said.

The punishment is following Hungary’s “child protection” law of 2021, which outlaws the broadcasting of homos*xual content to children in all forms of media, including television, movies, ads, and literature.

Additionally, it prevents the public exhibition of products that depict or encourage gender that deviates from s*x at birth. It also outlaws LGBT+ information in school curricula.

The bill, which is a component of a larger act that further strengthens the criminal penalties for paedophilia and establishes a searchable database of sx offenders, is insisted upon by the government of Hungary as being essential for safeguarding children. However, it is viewed as an attempt to stigmatize lesbian, gay, bisxual, and transgender people by critics of the nation’s right-wing administration.

The European Union’s top executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has termed the legal action that 15 member nations supported in April against the law in the European Court of Justice “a disgrace.”

The fine levied against Lira Konyv was announced just two days before the annual Budapest Pride march, which brings thousands of LGBT+ people and their supporters to the country’s capital.

The same-named Netflix television series, likewise written by Oseman, is an adaptation of the Heartstopper books.