Hungary Passes Transgender Law

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News reporting from Budapest, Hungary

(Worthy News) – Hungary’s Parliament has approved legislation that bans transgender people from changing the gender they were assigned at birth on official documents.

Critics claim the government rushed through the law at a time when mass protests are not allowed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

But Hungarian government officials disagree. They suggested that the law clarifies the legal order in Hungary. It is not in any way discriminatory or prevents people from expressing whatever gender identity they may wish to present, Budapest says. “The state’s decision … to register children’s biological sex in their birth certificates does not affect men’s and women’s right to experience and exercise their identities as they wish freely,” stressed the government’s communications office.

The law is part of broader efforts by Hungary’s conservative right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in power since 2010, to define traditional values and families in the heavily Catholic and ex-Communist nation. Under Orbán, Hungary’s constitution was changed to “protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman.” The Parliament’s speaker has compared gay adoption with pedophilia.

The latest gender law, proposed by the governing right-wing Fidesz party, passed Tuesday with an overwhelming majority of 133 ‘yes’ votes in the 199 seat-Parliament.

Advocacy group Transvanilla Transgender Association fears the bill will lead to suicidal thoughts among transgender people and that many may want to leave Hungary. And, it says, the legislation may affect “intersex people” born neither “clearly male nor female.” Rights group Amnesty International also expressed concern.

Advocates want to ask the Hungarian president, a government ally, not to sign the law. They also plan to legally challenge the legislation in court in Hungary and at the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

It is possible to legally change gender in all European Union countries bar Cyprus, but Hungary made it virtually impossible to change the sex on identity documents since 2018, activists say.

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