BUDAPEST, Hungary — People younger than 18 have been prohibited from visiting this year’s World Press Photo exhibition in Budapest due to a violation of Hungary’s LGBTQ+ content restrictions.
The exhibition, held at Hungary’s National Museum in Budapest, is a highly regarded global showcase of photojournalism that attracts over 4 million visitors annually. Its purpose is to bring news coverage of significant events to a worldwide audience.
However, a series of five photos by Filipino photojournalist Hannah Reyes Morales sparked a complaint by a far-right Hungarian lawmaker, leading to a determination by the country’s cultural ministry that the photos violate a Hungarian law prohibiting the display of LGBTQ+ content to minors.
As a result, individuals under the age of 18 are now restricted from visiting the exhibition, even with parental consent.
The photos capture a community of elderly LGBTQ+ individuals in the Philippines who have formed a supportive living arrangement over the years, showcasing some members in drag and wearing makeup.
Joumana El Zein Khoury, executive director of World Press Photo, expressed concern that “a photo series that is so positive, so inclusive” became a target of the Hungarian government. This incident marks the first censorship of one of the exhibitions in Europe, she noted.
Khoury conveyed her shock, stating, “The fact that there is limited access for a certain type of audience is really something that shocked us terribly… It’s mind-boggling that it’s this specific image, this specific story, and it’s mind-boggling that it’s happening in Europe.”
This imposition on young people attending the exhibition is part of Hungary’s ongoing efforts, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government, to restrict LGBTQ+ content accessible to minors across various media platforms, including television, films, advertisements, and literature.
While the government claims that the “child protection” law of 2021 aims to shield children from what it terms sexual propaganda, it has faced legal opposition from 15 European Union countries, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen denouncing it as “a disgrace.”
Dora Duro, the far-right lawmaker who filed the complaint against the photos, expressed outrage upon visiting the exhibition and rejected allegations that the government’s decision curtails press freedom or freedom of expression.
According to Duro, “How the LGBTQ minority lives is not the biggest problem in the world. What we see as normal, what we depict and what we convey to (children) as valuable influences them, and this exhibition is clearly harmful to minors and, I think, to adults too.”
Reyes Morales, the photographer, asserted in a statement that her subjects serve as “icons and role models” to the LGBTQ+ community in the Philippines and emphasized that they are not dangerous or harmful. She mourned the possibility that their story may not reach those who most need it and be kept hidden.
Hungary’s cultural ministry did not respond to a request for an interview.
Tamas Revesz, a former World Press Photo jury member and the organizer of Hungary’s exhibitions for over three decades, argued that numerous other photos in the exhibition, such as coverage of the war in Ukraine, are “a thousand times more serious and shocking” than Morales’ series.
Considering that approximately half of the exhibition’s 50,000 annual visitors in Hungary are students, Revesz pointed out that thousands of Hungarian youths will now be unable to view the World Press Photo collection, even images that do not contain LGBTQ+ content.
Revesz highlighted the purpose of each image and report in bringing news to viewers, acknowledging the risks taken by reporters. He concluded by emphasizing the importance of viewing the images without bias, stating, “Everyone is free to think what they want about the images on display. These pictures were taken without prejudice, and we too should take what we see here without prejudice.”