In Budapest, the Pride march on July 15 was only a parenthesis. On a daily basis, the LGBT+ community in the Hungarian capital is above all the target of ultra-conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Lira chain of stores was condemned last week by the authorities to pay the sum of 12 million forints (32,000 euros). His fault: having sold under conditions “breaking the rules” the graphic novel “Heartstopper” telling of a budding love between two high school students, popularized by a Netflix series.
“The investigation determined that the books” by British author Alice Oseman, “although depicting homosexuality, were offered in the children’s section, without being protected by airtight packaging”, explained the government. A “severe action” justified by the desire to “protect children”, under a 2021 law which is the subject of infringement proceedings in Brussels. According to this text, it is no longer possible to discuss with minors “the change of sex and homosexuality”.
Culture in the sights
If simple romantic comedies have been banned from prime time like X films, the legislation has so far remained little implemented in bookstores. “Now, however, the state is starting to apply it randomly,” explains Krisztian Nyary, creative director of the Lira company. This is an unprecedented amount, he notes, deploring “obscure rules”, difficult to respect.
The situation is also tense within the rival publishing house Libri, which received a heavy sanction in May before coming under the control of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC) foundation, close to the government. Amnesty International denounces, through the voice of its director in Budapest David Vig, these “scandalous” restrictions of rights. “The government is instrumentalizing the subject in the run-up to local and European elections in 2024 to mobilize its base and divert attention” from the problems, according to him, as Brussels freezes billions of euros in funds and prices soar. “But the impact on society is real.”
Rights taken away from transgender women?
Viktor Orban, defender of “illiberal” values in Europe, has taken several decried measures over the years. The country of 9.7 million inhabitants has thus banned gender studies, the registration of sex change in civil status and adoption by homosexual couples. Parliament also voted in April for a text authorizing the anonymous reporting of those who “question” the constitutional definition of marriage, family and gender. But it was withdrawn in the face of criticism.
In its fight, the government has just opened a new front by submitting an amendment to exclude transgender women from an early retirement program. “It is inconceivable that those who suddenly identify as women after years of working as men would benefit from a system that is supposed to reward the key role of mothers in society,” it says. The tabling of this text comes in reaction to a recent decision by the regional court of Veszprem, described as a “provocation” by the ruling Fidesz party.
The judges ruled in favor of a transgender woman named Elvira Angyal, authorized to benefit from this advantage. The NGO Hatter, at the origin of the procedure, castigated in a press release a bill falling under “in violation of EU rules”. It “sends the message that there are second-class citizens” in Hungary, abounds the head of Amnesty.