Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic urged lawmakers of the Slovak Parliament in an open letter to reject the bill that would prevent transgender individuals from having their gender identity legally recognised, as such a legislation would put Slovakia into conflict with its commitments stemming from the European Convention on Human Rights, TASR learnt from its correspondent in Brussels on Tuesday.
The Commissioner addressed the letter to House Chair Boris Kollar, head of the House Constitutional Committee Milan Vetrak and head of the Committee for Public Administration and Regional Development Jozef Lukac.
"The attack on the Teplaren bar in Bratislava more than half a year ago was expected to launch a process that would react to longstanding concerns caused by intolerance against the LGBTI people," reads the letter. According the Commissioner, such a development hasn't taken place in Slovakia and the rights of LGBTI people in Slovakia seemed to be in an even greater jeopardy than before.
"I'm afraid that the lawmakers of the Slovak Parliament continue to table bills that would even worsen the compliance with human rights," added Mijatovic.
The Commissioner also pointed out that shortcomings in the Slovak legal framework block same-sex couples from acquiring adequate recognition and protection of their relationships. She called on Slovakia to bolster efforts to combat hate crimes, intolerance and discrimination and support civic society.
According to a bill set to be deliberated on in May by the Slovak Parliament, individuals seeking sex change operations will be allowed to change their gender in their identification documents only if they can submit a genetic test to prove that their sex was "incorrectly determined" by doctors at birth.
(TASR)
