budapest book distributors and publishers in hungary have raised concerns that a decree restricting the sale of lgbtqthemed books could lead to selfcensorship and make such items harder to obtain in smaller townsthe government has ordered shops to sell sealed and wrapped all books aimed at under18s that are viewed as promoting homosexuality or gender change or containing explicit depictions of sexualityit also bans the sale of all such books whether intended for childen or adults within 200 metres 220 yards of a school or a churchthe decree is part of an antilgbtq drive that has set nationalist prime minister viktor orban at loggerheads with rights groups and the european unionkatalin gal head of the association of hungarian book publishers and distributors said more than 100 hungarian bookshops were within 200 meters of a church or a school many in small townsthis is covertly pushing publishers towards selfcensorship if they make it very hard to sell these books why would they print them at all she said on fridayit is clear that from now on if i write a book with lgbtq characters it will reach a much smaller audience said tibor raczstefan an author of young adult novels some of which feature samesex couplesthe order is the first directive spelling out the implications of a law passed in june banning materials seen as promoting homosexuality and gender reassignment at schoolsorban on a preelection crusade to safeguard what he calls traditional christian values says the law is meant to protect children and that their parents should educate them about sexualitywith the scope of the decree unclear the book association on thursday requested a list of books that fall under it from the governmentif the government really wants to implement this law a censor will have to review the entire history of literature said ildiko katona who owns a publishing house and bookstoresthe government did not immediately respond to a request for comment