No gender recognition provisions: 0/10 | There are laws and provisions, but with legal/medical/psychological approval: 5/10 | There are laws for self-determination, but only for those over 16 years of age: 7,5/10 | There are laws on gender self-determination, including those under 16 years of age: 10/10
The Personal Identification Numbers Act (1995) allows an individual to change the gender marker on their individual identification number after the presentation of a medical certificate. However the procedure requires unclear medical requirements which are interpreted as requiring sterilisation, surgery and a psychological diagnosis. Divorce also remains mandatory.
Since November 2018, the Legal Act on Universities contains a provision which allows individuals who have obtained legal gender recognition to receive a replacement of their diplomas from universities if they have changed their name or legal gender since graduating. However, this remains impossible for high school diplomas.
There are no national guidelines allowing students to use their preferred name in school or universities prior to accessing Legal Gender Recognition.
ECRI’s report on Slovakia called on the government to proceed with the implementation of Professional guidelines to unify medical procedures for issuing medical opinions on gender reassignment, which abolished the sterility requirement but was suspended due to anti-trans pressure in 2022. In 2023, the guidelines were finally approved by the outgoing Minister of Health Lengvarský, but issues with implementation remain.
In 2023, the parliament passed in the first reading a bill that would de facto ban LGR entirely. The bill sets out that LGR would only be available to those who can submit a genetic test proving that their “sex” was “incorrectly determined” by doctors at birth. It also establishes that gendered birth numbers could not be changed, which would ‘out’ trans people, who change their name. The move, which was criticised by the Ombudsperson, received wide media attention, including internationally, and was criticised by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, LGBTQI organisations and MEPs called for its immediate withdrawal. An identical bill was submitted to the new parliament in November 2023 by the same MPs from former OĽANO (now “Slovakia”) party, who are members of Christian Union.
In November 2023, the Slovak Ministry of Health revoked the Professional Guidelines, a key document that had helped standardise and improve healthcare procedures related to gender transition, including medical documentation required for legal gender recognition. The guidelines also aimed to eliminate the ongoing practice of forced sterilisation, which, though not legally mandated, has continued in Slovakia. Following their cancellation, such procedures are expected to recur, with several cases already reported.
In April 2024, the Ministry also annulled another important document, the Standard Procedure for Diagnosis and Comprehensive Management of Health Care for an Adult Person with Transsexualism. This document established clear medical protocols to prevent arbitrary and potentially harmful practices. Its cancellation, criticised by professional bodies like the Slovak Psychiatric Society and the Slovak Medical Society, lacks medical justification and further endangers access to safe, consistent healthcare for transgender individuals in Slovakia.
