- It can be seen as part of a larger pattern where LGBTQ people are targets for attacks as part of the government's right-wing nationalist agenda, says Emil Edenborg who is a researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute and specializes in right-wing nationalism and LGBTQ issues.
The book Sagolandet is for everyone contains, among other things, a story about a hind who wants to be a deer and a poem about a prince who marries another prince.
The authors behind the book say that the purpose is to teach children to be respectful of everyone, regardless of background.
There is also a variant of Snow White where she is dark-skinned instead of light-skinned, as she is usually portrayed.
Requires warning text on the cover
But the message of inclusion and tolerance is not tolerated by the Hungarian government.
The book caused a stir as early as the autumn of 2020 when it was published, and a Hungarian parliamentarian ran the book through a shredder.
Through an authority that corresponds to the Swedish Consumer Agency but is now controlled by the government, politicians now demand a warning text on the cover.
- The book is sold as a storybook, called it on the cover and is designed as such, but hides the fact that it depicts behaviors that are incompatible with traditional gender roles, the government says in a statement.
Behind the anthology is the LGBTQ organization Labrisz.
Together with another LGBTQ activist group, Hatter, they now intend to sue the government for the requirement for a warning text, which they believe is discriminatory.
Why is the Hungarian government fighting against children's books? Listen to researcher Emil Edenborg's analysis in the video.