Slovak Catholics torn over government anti-trans measures

‘We do not live in a religious country, those in parliament should know this and separate it from themselves,’ said Archbishop Róbert Bezák.

A clause proposed for Slovakia’s draft new Civil Code would automatically end the marriages of people who legally change their gender, even without their consent, sparking a controversy among human rights advocates and some Catholics.

“Marriage shall end with the change of sex of one of the spouses,” says Article 343 of the draft proposal. Critics call it one of the most intrusive provisions in Slovak law in years.

“Treating someone’s transition like a death is cruel, illogical and unnecessary,” said Dominika Patzko, a lawyer from the Slovak initiative Inakosť (“Otherness”). The Justice Ministry maintained that it merely “clarifies” the legal situation.

The case divided the overwhelming conservative majority of Slovak Catholic bishops and the small group of liberal priests who support LGBT+ people.

“We do not live in a religious country, those in parliament should know this and separate it from themselves,” said the Archbishop Emeritus of Trnava Róbert Bezák, one of the few prominent defenders of LGBT+ community among Slovak Catholics. 

He previously said of LGBT+ people: “These are such new things that the Church is not clear about. What is essential for a person’s life is not gender but their way of behaving, what comes out of them.” 

Long subjected to harmful practices including forced sterilisation, transgender people in Slovakia have been a target of the coalition government led by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico since it took power in October 2023. 

Stefan Kuffa, a Catholic politician and former MP, became the face of the government’s commitment to stop “gender ideology”. Kuffa has said “it would be better [for LGBT+ people] to put a millstone around your neck and toss you in the water”.

Slovak bishops have distanced themselves from Kuffa’s aggressive comments but do not hide their negative attitude towards LGBT+ community. In a 2013 pastoral read out in churches, the bishops compared the queer community to a “culture of death”. In September 2025 they publicly welcomed changes to the Slovak constitution, enshrining into law recognition of only two sexes – male and female.

“Slovakia sent a signal that it wishes to strengthen a society based on the values of truth, freedom, justice, and the dignity of human life,” said Archbishop Bernard Bober of Košice, the chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Slovakia.

Transgender – one more way to be human

No turning back: polemicist Abigail Shrier on transgenderism

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: