Viktor Orbán’s right wing populist party has pushed legislation to end recognition of trans-people by 134 to 56. Tanzia Haq brings you the report.
Hungary has decidedly moved backwards by pushing through a vote that protects its nationalist agenda, but takes a step back regarding progress made on human rights.
Here’s what you need to know about this new law:
- The new law set by the government recognizes gender as what individuals are born with, which consequently means that if a trans person wishes to change their identity on official documents, they will no longer be allowed to do so.
- Orbán’s Fidesz party pushed the legislation through 134 to 56 with four abstentions and will be signed into law by President János Áder who is an Orbán supporter.
- The bill was introduced by the Prime Minister on 31 March, which commemorates the International Transgender Day of Visibility. Amendments proposed by opposition parties were ruled out on Tuesday.
- Trans-people and human rights activists have all declared the bill evil and have said that this will make it extremely unsafe for the trans-community to continue living in Hungary.
Viktor Orbán rose to power by promoting ‘traditional family values’, with his party condemning LGBT communities and spurred the notion that these communities were unstable environments for families.
As Orbán had recently also passed a law that allows him to rule indefinitely, the conditions for trans-people will not improve. Trans-people will also not be able to choose names according to their identity as Hungarian law dictates first names have to be chosen from a list sorted by gender at the country’s Academy of Sciences.
Since 2017, Hungary has also put a halt on legal gender changes and will now require people to identify themselves by their sex at birth. The Háttér Society, a trans rights group in Hungary, said that this can target those who have already had gender reassignment.
