A bill submitted by deputy prime minister Zsolt Semjén on March 31 would amend the law so that the term “sex at birth” would replace the gender category on birth, marriage and death certificates.

The rationale for the bill states that “complete biological change is not possible,” but no one has said why the government is interested in its citizens’ genitalia, especially in the midst of the coronavirus epidemic, HVG writes.

The government suspended all name and gender change application procedures last year.

The MEPs’ open letter states that the proposed amendment is inconsistent with several rulings by the European Court of Human Rights, as well as previous proposals and guidelines from the European Parliament and the European Commission.

The MEPs also point out that the Hungarian Constitutional Court ruled in 2018 that legal recognition of the gender of transgender people is a fundamental right.

MTI Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák