According to Fidesz, a person is a man or a woman, in that order

The Fifteenth amendment to the "granite-solid" Fundamental Law has arrived, further oppressing transgender people in Hungary. If their daily lives weren't hard enough, with another amendment Fidesz politicians would remove protection from discrimination and harassment based on gender identity from the Equal Treatment Act.

Under the cover of night, the latest amendments to the Fundamental Law have been introduced, further marginalising trans people in Hungary. For the fifteenth time in thirteen years, Fidesz would amend the Fundamental Law, which has been reduced to a plaything of daily politics. The submitted proposal would insert the phrase "The person is man or a woman" in front of the now infamous "The mother is woman, the father is man”. This latter provision is also amended changing the order to "The father is man, the mother is a woman”, “in accordance with the order of creation” argues the explanatory memorandum.

It is true that a large majority of society is either male or female. However, there are some people who have sex characteristics (chromosomes, hormones, external and internal sex organs, body structure) that are common to both sexes. Intersex conditions occur in many different forms and cover a wide range of health conditions. The amendment is therefore even scientifically unsound, contradicting the very biological reality that it claims to be defending so belligerently.

Gender identity is each person's internal, individual experience of which gender they belong to. Recognising that our gender identity does not correspond to our sex assigned at birth is a very difficult process. It is not a trend or a fad: it is more difficult for trans people to find jobs, housing, access competent healthcare, and they are often exposed to street harassment and violence. Why would anyone want to be subjected to this just to follow the fad?

Some trans people identify as women or men – and at first reading, the amendment does not affect them – but rather targets those who consider themselves non-binary. However, the explanatory memorandum of the amendment makes it clear that the aim is to constitutionally prohibit legal gender recognition for all transgender people, which has already been banned by law since 2020.

Trans people have always existed: in the 19th century, a Hungarian count, Sándor Vay, lived his daily life as a man, although he was assigned female at birth. Already in the 1960s it was possible in Hungary to change the gender marker in one’s documents. Why does the government want to interfere in people’s private lives and override reality on ideological grounds?

Another inhumane amendment would remove the prohibition of harassment and discrimination on the grounds of gender identity from the Equal Treatment Act. The law, which has been in force since 2003, prohibits employers, educational institutions and service providers from discriminating against people on the grounds of their sex, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or even their gender identity. Who benefits from trans people being fired from their jobs, turned away at the bank or harassed on the train because of their gender identity? How would that make Hungary a better place to live? The responsibility of the state is to protect its citizens, not to make their lives more difficult.

The situation is already worrying: according to FRA data, half of trans people in Hungary experience discrimination in their daily lives. The amendment would only exacerbate this, making a simple parcel collection at the post office, credit card payment or even errands at the municipal council office much more problematic.

In addition, the latest representative opinion polls show that 72% of Hungarians would allow transgender people to change their gender marker on their documents. 61% of Hungarians think transgender people should be protected from discrimination in employment, housing and access to services. So the amendments do not even have social support.

We are here, we are here to stay, and we will stand up for every single member of our community in every possible way.