The amendment also stipulates that children must have parental permission before receiving sexual education and places restrictions on who can adopt minors.
Slovakia passed an amendment to its constitution that recognizes only two genders, along with other measures, through its parliament on Friday.
The amendment, drafted by Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, required a three-fifths majority to pass, and moved through the National Council with 90 of the 150 members backing it.
It states that Slovakia only recognizes two genders, male and female, and that Bratislava retains its sovereignty in matters of “national identity,” especially in “fundamental cultural-ethical questions.”
It also bans surrogacy and places tighter restrictions on who is eligible to adopt a child, heavily favoring married couples.
Slovakia’s constitution already defined marriage as “a unique union between a man and a woman.”
Parental consent will also now be needed before children can be taught sexual education, and it enshrines equal pay for men and women in the constitution.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Fico thanked all the MPs who supported the changes, and said it was not just a victory for his Direction-Social Democracy party, commonly known as Smer, but a victory for Slovakia.
“This is a shield that we have created. It can serve as an example for other countries. Liberalism and progressivism are destroying Europe. Let us be proud of what we’ve achieved,” he said, according to local news outlet News Now.
“This is Slovakia’s victory, not a victory for Smer. Slovakia has shown Europe and the world that we are here, just as we were centuries ago, and that we can say that we won’t let Brussels tell us that there is a third, fourth, or fifth gender.”
Campaign group Amnesty International criticized the amendment, saying that its passage was “devastating news.”
“Instead of taking concrete steps to protect the rights of LGBT people, children, and women, the Slovakian parliament voted to pass these amendments, which put the constitution in direct contradiction with international law,” said Rado Sloboda, director of Amnesty International Slovakia.
“Today is another dark day for Slovakia, which is already facing a series of cascading attacks on human rights and the rule of law.
“Instead of attacking human rights, the authorities should address the lack of legal protection for all families, marriage equality, and the rights of transgender and non-binary people, including access to health care and legal gender recognition.”
He said that Slovakia had opted to follow the lead of Hungary.
Hungary effectively outlawed Gay Pride parades and also passed a similar constitutional amendment recognizing only two genders earlier this year.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty had urged Slovakian MPs not to approve the changes earlier this year, arguing they deny “the realities of trans and intersex people and may impact on human rights guarantees such as access to legal gender recognition.”
“Seeking to disapply specific rights because they touch upon ‘national identity’ would be fundamentally incompatible with the Slovak Republic’s international obligations,” he said.
