The president of the Czech Republic called transgender people “disgusting” while discussing a Hungarian anti-LGBTQ law Sunday.
Czech President Milos Zeman said he finds transgender people to be “disgusting” in an interview with CNN Prima News, while expressing his support for the recent Hungarian legislation that banned gay and transgender content for minors, according to CNN. (RELATED: Hungarian Lawmakers Introduce Law Banning LGBTQ, Trans Content In Schools)
“I can understand gays, lesbians and so on. But do you know who I do not understand at all? These transgender people. If you undergo a sex-change operation you are basically committing a crime of self-harm,” Zeman reportedly said. “Every surgery is a risk and these transgender people to me are disgusting.”
While expressing his own annoyance towards the progressive movements in his own country, Zeman defended Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, saying that he is against the Hungarian education system’s “manipulation” of parents and children.
“Viktor Orbán says that he is not against homosexuals, but that he is against the manipulation not only of parents, but also of children in sex education,” Zeman said, according to Reuters. “I see no reason to disagree with him, because I am completely annoyed by the suffragettes, the Me Too movement and Prague Pride.”
The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban speaks at a press conference (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)
The Hungarian bill has been strongly opposed by 27 states in the European Union, however, the Czech Republic has not currently taken a stance on the legislation, Reuters reported. European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the bill “shameful” and claimed it violates the “human dignity” at a EU summit Wednesday, CNN reported.
According to advocacy group IGLA-Europe, local rights advocacy groups fear that the Czech Republic will follow Hungary in passing anti-LGBTQ legislation, the outlet reported. The Czech government has continuously barred bills allowing same-sex marriage to pass and requires an individual to undergo sex reassignment surgery and sterilization in order to be considered transitioned, according to a December 2020 report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance.