Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, and the Slovak government needs to be aware that the world is watching and will not be silent if the country violates people’s human rights.

Reacting to the prospect of a vote in the Slovak parliament on or before Friday 19 May on legislation that will make legal gender recognition impossible, Rado Sloboda, Director of Amnesty International Slovakia, said:

“Transgender people have been able to access legal gender recognition in Slovakia for more than 40 years but the Slovak parliament is now proposing to change legislation and remove this right.

“Amnesty International is calling on members of the Slovak parliament to reject this bill which jeopardizes the rights of transgender people and places the Slovak Republic in breach of its obligations under international human rights law.

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, and the Slovak government needs to be aware that the world is watching and will not be silent if the country violates people’s human rights.

Rado Sloboda, Director of Amnesty International Slovakia

“Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, and the Slovak government needs to be aware that the world is watching and will not be silent if the country violates people’s human rights.

“This law will gravely impact the rights of transgender people, forcing them to reveal their gender assigned at birth in everyday circumstances, such as signing for parcels. It will increase the risk of bullying, discrimination, or violence, and impact the right to privacy. This bill should not pass.”

Background

The National Assembly of the Slovak Republic is due to vote on Bill No. 301/1995, also known as the Birth Number Act which, if adopted, would force transgender people to prove they have the ‘correct’ set of chromosomes to have their legal gender affirmed. The act regulates birth numbers, the personal 10 digit identifier given to everyone in Slovakia on the day they are born. It includes information about the date of birth, and numbers for two genders – women are given the number 5, and men the numeral 0. The birth number must be changed to have your gender legally affirmed, but the law would effectively make this impossible, as most transgender people don’t have chromosomes matching their gender identity.