Hungary’s LGBTQ+ community is being pushed to the margins by a series of controversial restrictions that prevent schools, publishers and media from freely covering works that address issues of gender identity or sexual orientation.
The restrictions in question, formalized by a series of amendments adopted in 2021 by the ultraconservative government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, fuel censorship and fear, deplores Amnesty International in a report published this week.
The organization urges European authorities to intensify their pressure on the regime to force it to reverse course and withdraw measures which should officially serve, according to the authorities, to “protect children”.
Eszter Mihály, who led the search for Amnesty International, told The Press that the primary motivation of Viktor Orbán and those close to him 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 which then allows him to pose as a savior,” underlines Mme Mihály, who mentions the stigmatization of migrants from the Middle East during the 2016 crisis as another example of the ploy.
PHOTO DENES ERDOS, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán
The restrictions introduced in 2021 specify that it is imperative to block any content that “depicts or promotes” to young people under the age of 18 homosexuality, sex reassignment or a gender identity other than sex assigned at birth.
The terminology used is vague and forces businesses and media to be extra careful to avoid being sanctioned by the authorities, notes Mme Mihály.
“Propaganda”
Proceedings targeting bookstores under the new restrictions notably began in 2023, after a government agency responsible for consumer protection protested against the distribution by a well-known chain, Lira, of a comic book in which two boys are lover.
The administrators initially placed the book in the children’s section of several bookstores, provoking a strong denunciation from a Secretary of State, who lambasted on Facebook a campaign “aimed at relativizing and weakening the family”.
A fine of 32,000 euros was imposed on Lira, who was accused of not having wrapped the book to conceal its contents, as requested by the government.
The firm was also ordered to ensure that no copies of the comic strip were sold in its bookstores located within 200 meters of a school or religious institution.
Teachers, note Mme Mihály, must avoid using any book likely to expose children to “propaganda” linked to gender identity or sexual orientation, but no case of sanction has been formally identified by International amnesty.
However, a teacher told me that the director of her establishment warned that any employee at fault 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, notes the researcher.
A comedy focusing on a homosexual couple that was deemed appropriate for an audience of 12 and over had to be reclassified for 18 and over in order to avoid any sanction from the authorities, who could go so far as to impose a temporary suspension of broadcasting on offenders.
The agency regulating the media even contacted the managers of online viewing sites located abroad on several occasions in vain because certain films accessible to Hungarian audiences contravened their requirements.
“Offensive”
Amnesty International notes that the restrictions adopted by Budapest sparked a wave of protests, both in Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, without changing Viktor Orbán’s determination.
The measures are denounced by the European Commission, which launched proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union to which around fifteen states on the continent have joined.
The Hungarian Prime Minister launched a counterattack in 2023 by accusing Brussels of leading a pro-LGBTQ+ “offensive” to undermine his country’s “Christian heritage”.
Despite the seriousness of the government’s attacks, Hungarians’ opinion towards the LGBTQ+ community does not seem to have deteriorated significantly since 2021, but there is a lack of data to draw definitive conclusions on this subject, notes Mme Mihály.
Far-right groups, for their part, saw the government’s approach as an incitement to act, fueling a rise in hate speech in the country, she said.
In a survey conducted in 2019, before the government’s controversial reforms were introduced, 53% of respondents from the LGBTQ+ community said they had already been harassed because of their gender identity or sexual orientation.