Elle Hungary has defied conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies by featuring gay dads on the cover of its latest magazine. Revealed on Tuesday, September 5, the artwork shows restaurateur Hubert Hlatky Schlichter and his neurosurgeon husband Dr Laszlo Szegedi holding and kissing their baby daughter Hannabelle, with the tagline “Born from love” displayed beneath.
Sharing the cover on Instagram, the publication wrote: “Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, caring and supportive environment and no one can prevent this based on their parents’ gender identity or sexual orientation.”
Regarding its slogan, the magazine explained, “it beautifully summarizes our message: Born From Love, that is, born from love, because families, regardless of their structure, are rooted in deep, unconditional love.”
It added that with the current issue, Elle Hungary aims to “contribute to the acceptance of rainbow families” as Hubert and Laszlo “confess frankly about the difficulties and prejudices they had to face” as a gay couple.
“With their story, we want to send a message to everyone who has recently felt more attacks…you are not alone,” the post continues.
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Since being elected in 2010, Viktor Orbán has introduced several anti-LGBTQ+ policies in Hungary, including the 2021 law that bans the portrayal of queer topics or identities in content destined for minors. As a consequence of this law, now all books depicting LGBTQ+ relationships in Hungary are required to be wrapped in foil.
The Prime Minister’s government also proposed an amendment to the constitution to define families as “based on marriage and the parent-child relation [whereby] the mother is a woman, the father a man”, which was then passed by the National Assembly. Additionally, same-sex marriage and abortion are illegal in Hungary, as is gender change on official documents for trans, non-binary and intersex people.
Earlier in 2023, Orbán’s government also proposed a bill that, if made law, would have enabled citizens to report LGBTQ+ families to authorities. However, the move was vetoed by the country’s president, Katalin Novák, usually an ally of the Prime Minister.
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