An EU nation legally establishes two genders in its constitution
Slovakia’s parliament has endorsed an amendment presented as a safeguard against “progressive ideology.”
The Slovak parliament has ratified a constitutional amendment stipulating that gender is exclusively male and female. The TASR news agency reported on Friday that 90 of the 99 lawmakers in attendance voted for the provision.
This decision puts Slovakia in opposition to dominant EU standards, which underscore the acknowledgment of gender identity and safeguards for LGBTQ rights.
The amendment introduces the likelihood of a disagreement between Bratislava and Brussels, given the EU’s insistence on European legislation superseding domestic regulations.
The revisions extend beyond gender definitions: they restrict adoption rights solely to married couples, prohibit surrogacy, and mandate equal remuneration for men and women. These new stipulations are scheduled to become effective on November 1.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico characterized the reform as a defense against the “progressive ideology” perceived to be imposed by Brussels, portraying it as an affirmation of national sovereignty.
His Slovak National Party coalition asserted, according to TASR, that the vote demonstrated that “reason, values and principles can triumph even within the European Union.”
Detractors have condemned the amendment as a perilous deviation from human rights and equality, cautioning that it would contravene international human rights law and render transgender, intersex, and non-binary individuals legally vulnerable.
Hungary undertook a comparable measure in April, stringently defining gender as “sex at birth” and elevating the right of children to physical, mental, and moral development above other rights.
This inclination is also mirrored by developments outside the EU. During his inaugural address in January, US President Donald Trump proclaimed that “there are only two genders, male and female,” prior to directing federal agencies to cease acknowledging nonbinary identities.
Meanwhile, Russia has prohibited gender reassignment and “non-traditional gender ideology,” with its Supreme Court in 2023 classifying the “international LGBT movement” as a terrorist organization.
In contrast to Slovakia and Hungary, neither the US nor Russia possesses constitutional clauses explicitly dictating that there are solely two genders.