Dorottya Rédai

Dorottya Rédai is a Hungarian scholar, activist, and education specialist who focuses on gender and sexuality. In 2019, she published Fairyland is for Everyone, a children’s book that aims to address social issues such as gender stereotypes and difficult topics like child neglect and poverty in a digestible way for children aged 6 to 12. The book features disabled children, Roma people, LGBTQ+ protagonists, and other minority groups as characters. However, its publication sparked a backlash in Hungary, with some politicians labeling it as “homosexual propaganda” and the government imposing restrictions on its sale.

Despite the opposition, the book became a bestseller, selling around 30,000 copies by January 2021 and being translated into ten languages. Rédai sees the book’s popularity as a sign of protest against the government and against sexism, homophobia, and exclusion in Hungary. The controversy highlights the ongoing struggles for gender and LGBTQ+ rights in the country, but Rédai’s work has helped to raise awareness and create an important conversation about these issues.