by Chantelle Bilson (ThePinkNews.com)
Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, environmental activist, and inventor of the LongPen, Margaret Atwood. (Maria Moratti/Getty Images)
Multi-award-winning Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood has spoken out against anti-LGBTQ+ book bans, claiming attacks on diverse literature can lead to “open season” on other issues.
Atwood, who’s perhaps best known for her 1986 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, spoke in a keynote address on Wednesday (11 October) during the annual Budapest Forum.
Atwood spoke about book banning, culture wars, and the Hungarian government’s decision to censor books with LGBTQ+ themes.
She said: “Once you start forbidding [something], it becomes a question of who can forbid what … [and] how much state power is involved?
“Because once state power is involved, there’s a political agenda, not just a politeness agenda … and you can destroy your political opponents by accusing them of having said the wrong thing. Once you start with that, it’s open season.”
Hungary’s law against the “promotion of homosexuality among minors” has forced bookshops to wrap books deemed “sensitive” in plastic or move them to the adult section. Failure to do so can result in a heavy fine.
Atwood added: “What you don’t want is a government in which the judiciary and the executive branch are the same. Or the judiciary is just a wing of the executive branch because that’s when you get a lot of very perverted justice.
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Reposted from Pink News. To read the full article go to:https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/10/12/margaret-atwood-book-bans-budapest-hungary/
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