Hungary issues fine over rainbow families

BUDAPEST — Hungarian authorities have fined the distributor of a children’s book that features a family with samesex parents using a law prohibiting unfair commercial practices, fueling an debate over recent government steps seen as limiting the rights of LGBT people.

The fine comes as Hungary’s government is already under widespread scrutiny over legislation it passed last month that prohibits the depiction of homosexuality or gender reassignment to minors. The law, which is set to take effect on Thursday, was described by rights groups as an attack on the LGBT community, and rebuked by high-ranking European officials as a violation of the European Union’s values.

The children’s book, a two-part Hungarian translation of “Early One Morning” and “Bedtime, Not Playtime!” by U.S. author Lawrence Schimel, depicts the daily routines of two children each of which has same-sex parents.

The fine was imposed by the Pest County Government Office — the local authority responsible for the county surrounding the capital, Budapest.

A Pest county official told commercial television station HirTV Tuesday that the book’s Hungarian distributor had failed to clearly indicate that it contained “content which deviates from the norm,” and had thus violated rules on unfair commercial practices.

“The book was there among other fairytale books and thus committed a violation,” Pest county commissioner Richard Tarnai said. “There is no way of knowing that this book is about a family that is different than a normal family.”

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the book’s distributor, Foundation for Rainbow Families, wrote that “rainbow families are perfectly normal, ordinary families,” a reference to families with LGBT parents.