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Hungary prepares to end legal recognition of trans people
Source: The Guardian
Hungary prepares to end legal recognition of trans people
Trans people fear more discrimination as Orbán pushes through law defining gender based on ‘sex at birth’
Shaun Walker
Sun 26 Apr 2020 11.57 BST
Last modified on Sun 26 Apr 2020 20.00 BST
Hungary’s rightwing government looks likely to push through legislation that will end the legal recognition of trans people by defining gender as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes” and thus making it impossible for people to legally change their gender.
Trans people and rights activists say the law, which has been introduced into parliament as attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, will increase discrimination and intolerance towards trans people. Many will try to leave the country, while those who do not have that chance will face daily humiliations.
“In Hungary, you need to show your ID to rent a bike, buy a bus pass or to pick up a package at the post office. It basically means coming out as trans to complete strangers, all the time. The good version is they are nice about it, but there are situations where people turn quite hostile,” said Ivett Ördög, a 39-year-old trans woman living in Budapest.
Hungary’s anti-immigration prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has prompted a wave of international criticism during the coronavirus pandemic by adopting legislation that allows him to rule by decree indefinitely. Parliament is still sitting, but instead of focusing on fighting coronavirus, it is dealing with issues such as the new trans legislation.
Bernadett Szél, an independent MP who has opposed the law in parliament’s judicial committee, described it as “evil” and “a step back in time”. During a hearing in the committee, she tried to read out a letter from trans people explaining how harmful the law would be for them, but was shut down by the committee’s chair, who described the letter as “not relevant”.
-snip-
Trans people fear more discrimination as Orbán pushes through law defining gender based on ‘sex at birth’
Shaun Walker
Sun 26 Apr 2020 11.57 BST
Last modified on Sun 26 Apr 2020 20.00 BST
Hungary’s rightwing government looks likely to push through legislation that will end the legal recognition of trans people by defining gender as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes” and thus making it impossible for people to legally change their gender.
Trans people and rights activists say the law, which has been introduced into parliament as attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, will increase discrimination and intolerance towards trans people. Many will try to leave the country, while those who do not have that chance will face daily humiliations.
“In Hungary, you need to show your ID to rent a bike, buy a bus pass or to pick up a package at the post office. It basically means coming out as trans to complete strangers, all the time. The good version is they are nice about it, but there are situations where people turn quite hostile,” said Ivett Ördög, a 39-year-old trans woman living in Budapest.
Hungary’s anti-immigration prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has prompted a wave of international criticism during the coronavirus pandemic by adopting legislation that allows him to rule by decree indefinitely. Parliament is still sitting, but instead of focusing on fighting coronavirus, it is dealing with issues such as the new trans legislation.
Bernadett Szél, an independent MP who has opposed the law in parliament’s judicial committee, described it as “evil” and “a step back in time”. During a hearing in the committee, she tried to read out a letter from trans people explaining how harmful the law would be for them, but was shut down by the committee’s chair, who described the letter as “not relevant”.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/26/hungary-prepares-to-end-legal-recognition-of-trans-people
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