Hungarian Legal Documents Won’t Lie

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (ChurchMilitant.com) - Hungarians are now banned from changing legal documents that claim a sex other than their biological sex at birth; as of this week, when lawmakers voted more than two to one in favor of the ban, biological sex at birth will rule the day in Hungary.

Transgender activists and their leftist allies (mostly in the West) expressed outrage, claiming the new law is a violation of fundamental human rights; that it will marginalize gender confused people and make their lives more difficult and dangerous.

"This decision pushes Hungary back towards the dark ages and tramples the rights of transgender and intersex people," warned Amnesty International researcher Krisztina Tamás-Sáróy. "It will not only expose them to further discrimination but will also deepen an already intolerant and hostile environment faced by the LGBTI community."

The law does not prevent gender confused people from presenting themselves day-to-day as different from their sex at birth. But on official documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, the Hungarian word "nem" meaning sex or gender is being replaced with the phrase "sex at birth."

This change means that whenever so-called transgenders present identity papers, the discrepancy between their sex at birth and their chosen identity will be immediately obvious. LGBT activists say this situation creates an opportunity for harassment and/or violence.

Complicating the situation further for transgenders, Hungary maintains an official register of allowed names compiled by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and this list is gendered — there are no names approved for both genders. One of the first things many gender confused individuals want to do is be called by a name that corresponds with their chosen gender identity; they are not banned from doing so, but their official name must correspond to their biological sex.

In Hungary, identity papers are required more frequently than in the United States. For example, ID must be presented to rent a bike, purchase a bus pass or pick up a package at the post office. Trans activists say these daily challenges to their chosen sexual identify take a toll on their mental health and undermine their dignity.

Hungary has been charting its own course in the European Union, and EU officials are not happy about it. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for example, made famous by his opposition to the bloc's open-door migration policy, has also outraged Brussels bureaucrats by adopting legislation during the Wuhan virus pandemic that expands his executive powers.

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