LGBTQ+ community pushed to the margins
Hungary's LGBTQ+ community is being pushed to the margins by a series of controversial restrictions that prevent schools, publishers and media outlets from freely processing works that address issues of gender identity or sexual orientation.
The restrictions, formalised by a series of amendments adopted in 2021 by the ultra-conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, are fuelling censorship and fear, Amnesty International said in a report published this week.
The organization is urging the European authorities to step up their pressure on the regime to force it to back down and withdraw measures that the authorities say are officially intended to "protect children".
Eszter Mihály, who led Amnesty International's research, told La Presse on Friday that the primary motivation
for Orbán and his entourage was political.
"I think the current Hungarian government is likely to use any minority group to portray them as a danger to society. The goal is to create fear that then allows him to pose as a saviour,"says Mihály, who points to the stigmatization of migrants from the Middle East during the 2016 crisis as another example of the ploy.
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán
The restrictions introduced in 2021 specify that it is imperative to block any content that "represents or promotes" to young people under the age of 18 homosexuality, sex reassignment, or a gender identity other than the sex assigned at birth.
The terminology used is vague and forces businesses and media outlets to be extra cautious
to avoid being sanctionedby the authorities, Mihály said.
'Propaganda'Notably, proceedings targeting bookstores under the new restrictions began in 2023, after a government consumer protection agency protested the distribution by a well-known chain, Lira, of a comic book in which two boys are in love.
The administrators had initially placed the book in the children's section of several bookstores, prompting a strong denunciation from a secretary of state, who castigated on Facebook a campaign "aimed at relativizing and weakening the family."
A fine of €32,000 was imposed on Lira, who was accused of failing to wrap the book to conceal its contents, as requested by the government.
The company was also ordered to ensure that no copies of the comic were sold in its bookstores located
within 200 metres of a school or religious institution.
Teachers, Mihály said, should avoid using any book that could expose children to "propaganda" related to gender identity or sexual orientation, but no cases of punishment have been formally identified by Amnesty International.
However, one teacher told me that the principal of her school had warned that any offending employee would be fired.
Eszter Mihály, Amnesty International researcher
The restrictions imposed by the Hungarian regime are also causing serious headaches for the media, which must now broadcast after 10 p.m. any program featuring a homosexual or transgender person, the researcher notes.
A comedy about a same-sex couple that was deemed appropriate for an audience 12 years of age and older had to be reclassified to 18 years of age and older in order to avoid punishment from the authorities, who can go so far as to impose a temporary suspension on offenders.
The media regulator has even approached the heads of online viewing sites abroad on a few occasions, to no avail, because some films available to the Hungarian public contravene their requirements.
"Offensive"Amnesty International notes that Budapest's restrictions have sparked a wave of protests, both in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, but have not changed Orbán's resolve.
The measures have been denounced by the European Commission, which has launched proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, to which some fifteen states of the continent have joined.
The Hungarian prime minister launched a counterattack in 2023 by accusing Brussels of waging a pro-LGBTQ+ "offensive" to undermine his country's "Christian heritage".
Despite the severity of the government's attacks, Hungarians' views of the LGBTQ+ community do not appear to have deteriorated significantly since 2021, but there is a lack of data to draw firm conclusions on the matter, Mihály said.
Far-right groups saw the government's move as a call to action, fuelling a rise in hate speech in the country, she said.
In a 2019 poll, prior to the introduction of the government's controversial reforms, 53% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they had been harassed because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
The restrictions, formalised by a series of amendments adopted in 2021 by the ultra-conservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, are fuelling censorship and fear, Amnesty International said in a report published this week.
The organization is urging the European authorities to step up their pressure on the regime to force it to back down and withdraw measures that the authorities say are officially intended to "protect children".
Eszter Mihály, who led Amnesty International's research, told La Presse on Friday that the primary motivation
for Orbán and his entourage was political.
"I think the current Hungarian government is likely to use any minority group to portray them as a danger to society. The goal is to create fear that then allows him to pose as a saviour,"says Mihály, who points to the stigmatization of migrants from the Middle East during the 2016 crisis as another example of the ploy.
Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán
The restrictions introduced in 2021 specify that it is imperative to block any content that "represents or promotes" to young people under the age of 18 homosexuality, sex reassignment, or a gender identity other than the sex assigned at birth.
The terminology used is vague and forces businesses and media outlets to be extra cautious
to avoid being sanctionedby the authorities, Mihály said.
'Propaganda'Notably, proceedings targeting bookstores under the new restrictions began in 2023, after a government consumer protection agency protested the distribution by a well-known chain, Lira, of a comic book in which two boys are in love.
The administrators had initially placed the book in the children's section of several bookstores, prompting a strong denunciation from a secretary of state, who castigated on Facebook a campaign "aimed at relativizing and weakening the family."
A fine of €32,000 was imposed on Lira, who was accused of failing to wrap the book to conceal its contents, as requested by the government.
The company was also ordered to ensure that no copies of the comic were sold in its bookstores located
within 200 metres of a school or religious institution.
Teachers, Mihály said, should avoid using any book that could expose children to "propaganda" related to gender identity or sexual orientation, but no cases of punishment have been formally identified by Amnesty International.
However, one teacher told me that the principal of her school had warned that any offending employee would be fired.
Eszter Mihály, Amnesty International researcher
The restrictions imposed by the Hungarian regime are also causing serious headaches for the media, which must now broadcast after 10 p.m. any program featuring a homosexual or transgender person, the researcher notes.
A comedy about a same-sex couple that was deemed appropriate for an audience 12 years of age and older had to be reclassified to 18 years of age and older in order to avoid punishment from the authorities, who can go so far as to impose a temporary suspension on offenders.
The media regulator has even approached the heads of online viewing sites abroad on a few occasions, to no avail, because some films available to the Hungarian public contravene their requirements.
"Offensive"Amnesty International notes that Budapest's restrictions have sparked a wave of protests, both in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, but have not changed Orbán's resolve.
The measures have been denounced by the European Commission, which has launched proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, to which some fifteen states of the continent have joined.
The Hungarian prime minister launched a counterattack in 2023 by accusing Brussels of waging a pro-LGBTQ+ "offensive" to undermine his country's "Christian heritage".
Despite the severity of the government's attacks, Hungarians' views of the LGBTQ+ community do not appear to have deteriorated significantly since 2021, but there is a lack of data to draw firm conclusions on the matter, Mihály said.
Far-right groups saw the government's move as a call to action, fuelling a rise in hate speech in the country, she said.
In a 2019 poll, prior to the introduction of the government's controversial reforms, 53% of LGBTQ+ respondents said they had been harassed because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
