European court: LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales suitable for childrenEuropean Court ruled that imposing a warning label on a children's book because it contains LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable
by Mambaonline.com
26-01-2023 10:08
in LGBTQIA+
LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales suitable for children, rules European court. Photo: Pexels
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that imposing a warning label on a children's book because it contains LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable and violates the right to freedom of expression.
--
The book in question, Gintarin irdis (Amber Heart), by the late lesbian writer, Neringa Dangvyde Macate, was published in 2013 by the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences with financial support from the Ministry of Culture.
The children's book Gintarin irdis (Amber Heart) includes two LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales. Photo: Mambaonline It includes versions of six traditional fairytales aimed at nine to 10-year-olds adapted to include characters from different ethnic groups or with intellectual disabilities.
The book addresses issues such as stigmatisation, bullying, divorced families and emigration and two of the six fairy tales have storylines about relationships and marriages between persons of the same sex.
--
ALSO READ: The history of the word queer': reviled, reclaimed and respected
After it was published, complaints were submitted to the university and the Ministry of Culture that the book sought to instill in children the idea that marriage between persons of the same sex was a welcome phenomenon and was encouraging perversions .
The ministry referred the matter to the Inspectorate of Journalistic Ethics. It found the book in violation of the country's Protection of Minors from Negative Effects of Public Information , which states that information that expresses contempt for family values or encourages a different concept of marriage and creation of family has a negative effect on minors.
The inspectorate recommended that the book be labelled with a warning that it might be harmful to children under 14 years of age.
--
The university recalled the book from distribution and republished it a year later with the suggested warning label.
European court agreed that the author promoted diversity and equality The Lithuanian courts agreed that the book could cause harm to children because of the LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales.
In 2019, the author, who passed away in 2020, took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights.
This case also sends another important message, which is that all families are equal
On Tuesday, the court ruled that the university's actions interfered with the author's freedom of expression and unjustifiably sought to limit children's access to information that depicted same-sex relationships as equivalent to different-sex relationships.
It rejected assertions that certain passages in the book about a princess and a shoemaker's daughter sleeping in one another's arms after their wedding were sexually explicit.
The judges were also not convinced by the Lithuanian government's argument that the book had promoted same-sex families over others.
To the contrary, the fairy tales had advocated respect for and acceptance of all members of society in a fundamental aspect of their lives, namely a committed relationship, said the court.
The court, therefore, concluded that the measures taken against the book had not pursued any aims that it could accept as legitimate
The ruling was welcomed by ILGA-Europe's Head of Litigation, Arpi Avetisyan, who commented: The court's message is clear: Protection of children cannot be used as an excuse for censoring information about LGBTI rights, both on the part of the authors for promoting diversity and equality, and for children to learn about acceptance of all members of the society on an equal footing.
Avetisyan added that This case also sends another important message, which is that all families are equal. In the court's own words: Promoting one type of family at the expense of another is never acceptable under the [European] Convention.
The court ordered Lithuania to pay 17,000 Euros to the author's mother to cover damages and litigation costs.
Article by Roberto Igual
This article was initially published on MAMBAonlie.com
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY Mambaonline.com
How much of a rugby fanatic are you? FIVE easy answers could win you a signed jersey! ENTER HERE
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
European court: LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales suitable for childrenEuropean Court ruled that imposing a warning label on a children's book because it contains LGBTI-inclusive fairy tales is unjustifiable
