Hungary imposes heavy fine on book store for selling LGBT-themed book

Hungary’s second-largest book store Lira is finding itself caught up in legal troubles after allegedly selling LGBT-themed British webcomic and graphic novels without closed wrapping. The book is aimed at teenagers and its story revolves around two gay teens who fall in love.

The popular story has also been adapted by Netflix as a romantic comedy-drama. A Budapest government office on Thursday imposed a 12 million forints ($36,000) fine on Lira, claiming that the bookstore had violated the country’s LGBT law. However, Lira has firmly denied all the charges and expressed its intentions to lock horns with the government on the legal battlefield.

Lira to fight legal battle

The creative director of Lira, Krisztian Nyary, was quoted by CNN as saying that the government cited vague laws to frame charges against the company and the hefty fine imposed was disproportionate. “As this is a resolution about a fine it cannot be appealed, it can only be attacked – in what way, our lawyers will assess. We will use all legal means at our disposal,” he said.

Vague laws

Several publishers have taken the initiative to voluntarily wrap their books in an attempt to comply with the controversial law in Hungary. However, it remains unclear whether this measure alone is sufficient to categorise the affected books as intended for adult readers.

Another point of contention is whether LGBT-themed books designed for adult audiences will also be required to be wrapped or if they can be sold without packaging.

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The lack of clarity surrounding these issues has led to confusion and uncertainty among publishers and booksellers.

Laws criticised by EU and human rights organisations

Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, and his government have been actively promoting a Christian-conservative agenda. In 2021, it passed a law prohibiting the "display and promotion of homosexuality" to individuals under the age of 18. This legislation faced strong criticism from human rights organisations and the European Union.

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The law was perceived as a strategy to appeal to Orban's conservative supporters in rural areas leading up to his successful re-election for a fourth term in 2022.

The European Commission responded by referring Hungary to the EU Court of Justice, arguing that the law "discriminates against people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity."