Hungary passed a law denying identity to trans and non-binary people

The Hungarian Parliament voted in favor of a law that denies the right to identity to trans and non-binary people.

May 20, 2020

The Hungarian Parliament yesterday voted in favor of a law introduced by Viktor Orbán's government that denies transgender and non-binary people the right to identity. Article 33 of the bill replaces the category of "sex" with "sex assigned at birth" in the civil registry. As a result, the category cannot be changed, and transgender people will not be legally recognized with their gender identity.

“The sex recorded in the civil registry is based on facts determined by doctors and declared by the registry. The registry certifies the facts and rights that this (the sex assigned) includes, until proven otherwise. Therefore, it does not create rights. However, the sex declared in the registry could create rights or obligations, and therefore it is necessary to clarify the term 'sex' at birth. Since completely changing one's biological sex is impossible, it is necessary to establish in the law that it cannot be changed in the civil registry either,” the bill states.

Krisztina Tamás-Sáróy, Amnesty International researcher, said: “This decision takes Hungary back to the Dark Ages and tramples on the rights of transgender and intersex people. Not only will it expose them to further discrimination, but it will also exacerbate the already intolerant and hostile environment faced by the LGBTI community. It is crucial that Hungary’s Commissioner for Fundamental Rights act urgently and request that the Constitutional Court review and swiftly overturn the appalling provisions of this law.”

No changes registered since 2008

TransVanilla, a civil organization for trans rights in Hungary, explains on its website that although trans people have had the right to make legal name changes since 2003, there is no law that provides a procedure for doing so, and that since 2018 no further legal name changes have been accepted.

“It’s not just an attack on trans people: it’s the imposition of a state-legitimized biological destiny on everyone. An elegant attempt to settle the discussion about identity, as if this were a cultural aspect irrelevant to the state, which regulates what’s truly important: the facts—as if there were, of course, only one way to interpret them. To deny the state respect for our identity is to deny us as political subjects: it’s to narrate a humanity in which our existence is negligible. To refuse to name us, to recognize us, is the prelude to denying existence, and a tacit way of fostering increased expressions of hatred from civil society toward the trans, travesti, and non-binary population,” writes Argentine travesti activist Quimey Ramos for Presentes.

“We know that it is possible to exist even when a state denies your identity: our bodies, always resplendent in the corners of official history, are the permanent demonstration of that eternal rebellion. And yet, we will not stop saying that the right to identity is an inseparable part of the right to enjoy a full life.”

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