A chain of Hungarian bookstores was fined for selling children’s stories about the day of children of same-sex parents. The same picture book has been published in Russia, but with the label “18+”.Respect what the country calls “Gay Propaganda” Act.
The picture book by American writer Lawrence Schimel and illustrator Elīna Brasliņa tells about a morning and an evening in the lives of two children with same-sex parents. It published two books in English-“A Day in the Morning”, which tells the morning of a little boy and his two mothers; and bedtime, not game time! , It tells the story of a girl with two fathers before going to bed. Dmitriy Kuzmin’s Russian translation combines the two books and is titled “Mother, Father, and Child from Dusk to Dawn.”
What is a bit unusual is that this book is published by Sphere, which is a charitable foundation, not a traditional publishing house. Sphere, which campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights, stated that Russia’s 2013 law banning homosexual “propaganda” means that the country’s publishing houses will not support its initiative to publish the book, so it handles the problem on its own.
“[This] This book is not only about LGBTQ+ families, but also for them. In this sense, this book is the first of its kind in Russia,” the organization said, adding that the law requires that the book be printed with a label over 18 years old. “In other words, due to the existing legislature, don’t There is no choice but to publish adult and children’s books… This is the absurdity of the propaganda law, it will only cause discrimination against LGBT+ and limit access to information. “
when This children’s book was released in Hungary last month, The Líra Könyv bookstore chain was fined 250,000 HUF (£600) by the local authorities for failing to clearly indicate that the book contained “departing content”.
The sphere has Started a campaign The petition to repeal Russia’s propaganda law has collected nearly 60,000 signatures. “This book is… the epitome of legal absurdity,” the organization said in a statement. “This law does not protect anyone from any harm. Instead, it serves as a tool to 1) restrict access to information, 2) legitimize discrimination in the form of homophobia and transphobia in society-and Real families, with real children, are suffering from it.”
Schimel said that he and the illustrator Brasliņa are both “very happy” to donate their books to the event, “because we both strongly oppose the Russian government’s persecution of LGBT people.”
“In the diverse, diverse, and globalized world we live in, hatred should not be affected in any way,” Simmel said. “These LGBT propaganda laws do not protect children from any harm, and our lives are not something that anyone needs to’protect’ from harm… This is why the movement to repeal this harmful law is so important in Russia. For those children who may find themselves in same-sex families or find their LGBT status, but for all children to see these families in the world-even in Russia-and prevent a generation from this kind of political homophobia Grow up in the brainwashing.”
So far, Sphere has printed about 500 copies of Schimel’s books and sent them to regional LGBT+ organizations and queer influencers. It hopes to release more in the future. “It’s not easy,” a spokesperson said. “We have always worried that this process will be disturbed, or that the books will be confiscated by the authorities immediately after printing. Fortunately, such things did not happen, partly because we were very cautious, but we still look forward to paying more attention to us and our actions. An organization’s activities. We don’t consider commercial distribution. For us, this is a way to provide representation for LGBTQ+ families, and to some extent, it adds a whole new dimension and motivation to the fight against discriminatory legislatures.”
Schimel and Braslina’s books have been published in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian, and a campaign to publish these books in Hebrew has been initiated. Recently launchedSchimel and Sphere predict that by the end of 2022, these books will be available in at least 30 editions and 24 languages around the world.
