Hungary imposes hefty fine on bookshop chain for LGBTQ2S+ graphic novel, says it broke the law

Budapest, Hungary –

A government office in Hungary on Thursday fined a national bookseller for an LGBTQ2S+ graphic novel for violating a controversial law that prohibits depicting homosexuality to minors.

The bookseller, Lira Konyv, is Hungary’s second largest bookstore chain. It was fined 12 million forints (US$35,930) for placing British author Alice Oseman’s popular “Heartstopper” in the children’s literature section and for not placing it in a sealed container, as required by a 2021 law.

The Budapest Metropolitan Government Office, which issued the consumer protection fine, told state news agency MTI it had launched an investigation into the store’s sale of the title.

“The investigation showed that the books in question depicted homosexuality, but that they were nevertheless placed in the category of children’s books and youth literature and were not distributed in sealed packaging,” the agency said.

The fine is based on Hungary’s 2021 “child protection” law, which prohibits the display of homosexual content to minors in media, including television, films, advertisements and literature. It also bans LGBTQ2S+ content in school curricula and prohibits the public display of products that depict or promote a gender difference from the sex at birth.

The Hungarian government emphasizes that the law, part of a broader statute that also increases criminal penalties for pedophilia and creates a searchable database of sex offenders, is necessary to protect children. But it is seen by critics of the country’s right-wing government as an attempt to stigmatize lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

In April, 15 European Union countries supported legal action against the law at the European Court of Justice, and the bloc’s chief executive, Ursula von der Leyen, called it “a disgrace”.

The fine against Lira Konyv comes just two days before the Budapest Pride march, an annual event that draws thousands of LGBTQ2S+ people and their supporters in Hungary’s capital.

In a statement, Budapest’s Metropolitan Government Office said it had instructed Lira Konyv to ensure the legal distribution of the book and that it “will always take strict action against companies that do not comply with the law”.