Marchers holding a transgender pride flag during a Pride event. Completion of the legal process accompanying gender transition would be obstructed under a proposed new law. (source: Vladimír Šimíček / TASR)
The Slovak parliament's European Affairs Committee has withdrawn its approval of a new parenthood certificate.
The European Certificate of Parenthood would allow queer couples who are foreign citizens, or couples in which one partner is foreign and the other Slovak, to be officially recognised as the parents of their children in Slovakia, writes the Sme daily. The Slovak constitution only recognises marriages as being between a man and a woman.
This means that if a child with same-sex parents listed in its birth certificate comes to live in Slovakia with its family, those parents will not be formally recognised as such by the authorities.
Two million children across the EU
“What comes from the original measure is something that already works in Europe. The rest of us want to dictate to them [the LGBT+ minority] what they can and can't do, even though it concerns nothing that would be criminal or otherwise reprehensible,” SaS MP Peter Osuský said during the session.
The committee has now decided to oppose the measure, despite having earlier accepted it. The only MPs who remained in support of the European Union measure to recognise same-sex parents were Peter Osuský and Ján Oravec from the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party.
According to the European Affairs Committee, two million children across the European Union could currently face a situation in which their same-sex parents are not legally recognised. The measure would not change anything within Slovakia’s internal legislative regime, as it would apply only to children with birth certificates from foreign countries.
Measure against transgender people
Meanwhile parliament is considering, at its second reading, a bill on birth numbers (the gender-specific identification numbers assigned to all Slovaks at birth) submitted by ultra-conservative MPs around Anna Záborská, writes Denník N. The bill appears to enjoy the support of as many as two-thirds of MPs. According to critics, it would require official authorities to ignore the identities of transgender people. On their identification card, they would be able to change their name but not their assigned sex or birth number. 87 MPs supported the measure, with SaS opposed.
If the measure is approved, SaS party members will ask President Zuzana Čaputová to veto the law. They are also considering turning to the Constitutional Court to seek the law's suspension, writes the TASR newswire.
During a press conference, SaS members called on people who are interested in issues affecting the transgender community in Slovakia to help them gather evidence and sources to oppose the new measure.
“The new measure effectively prevents the official transition process from being completed,” commented SaS MP Jana Bittó Cigániková.
