Book News

Hungarian authorities have fined a bookseller for selling a British graphic novel without closed wrapping - saying it breached an anti-gay law on LGBT literature for under-18s.

The retailer was fined 12m forints (£27,400), for selling Heartstopper without wrapping it in plastic foil, as required by law. Officials said the book depicts homosexuality and was sold to minors.

In 2021, the government of prime minister Viktor Orban introduced a law banning the display and promotion of homosexuality among under-18s. The censorship laws says that minors cannot be shown pornographic content, or anything that encourages gender change or homosexuality.

The Heartstopper series of books, written and illustrated by the British author Alice Oseman, follow the lives of two British teenagers attending a fictional school who meet and fall in love. It is billed as a book about life, love, and everything that happens in between. It has since been acquired and adapted by the streaming service Netflix, which plans to release a second series in August.

Australia's book censor has rejected a push by anti-LGBTQIA+ activist to ban memoir titled Gender Queer.

The book was referred to the Classification Board after Queensland Police was tipped off by conservative campaigner Bernard Gaynor.

The Australian Classification Board has now classified non-binary author and cartoonist Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer: A Memoir as unrestricted with the rating M (Mature). Not Recommended for Readers Under 15 Years.

The award-winning book has become one of the most banned books in America over its depictions of LGBTQIA+ sex and sexuality, including explicit illustrations and descriptions.