Biologists at Hungarian Academy of Sciences say it is not true that “a person is either male or female”

"A person is either male or female. And that's it", Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared in February, and in April this was enshrined in the Fundamental Law. But the Biology Department of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (MTA) said in a statement published on Tuesday that this is not true in this form.

By a 92 percent majority, Hungary's 38 leading biologists have adopted a resolution setting out scientific arguments for why the statement included in the Fundamental Law by the governing parties is inaccurate. “A non-negligible proportion of people are born and/or develop with chromosomal or anatomical characteristics that do not clearly correspond to the traditional definition of ‘male’ or ‘female, ’” they say.

Although the statement does not refer to the amendment of the Fundamental Law, they stated that “declaring only two biological sexes without taking into account differences could marginalise people who do not fit into these categories”. As they describe, this could be manifested

"in the lack of political and legal recognition, in difficulties of accurate identification, in the issuance of documents, and in systemic discrimination in education, health care and employment. It would be good to see all of this avoided".

“Such ‘intersex’ conditions with intermediate sex characteristics include variants such as complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS), Klinefelter syndrome (XXY), Turner syndrome (X0) and others,” they wrote.

It was pointed out that the exact frequency of “intersex” conditions is currently the subject of scientific debate, but their existence is textbook biomedical data. "A single counterexample contradicts a general thesis, and in this case, assuming even the lowest values, we are talking about millions of people worldwide. Based on the above, the statement that ‘'a person is either male or female’' is inaccurate, similarly to the statement that ‘'a person's heart is on the left’' because the reverse is known to be true," they said.

The geneticist and immunologist academic, András Falus had previously said that the statement in the Fundamental Law is simply not true either biologically and scientifically. He said that there are two extremes: a male with sex chromosomes we call XY, and the female who has XX sex chromosomes. But beyond that, there are several transitional forms. Approximately, around 0.8-2.5 percent of the population belongs to the group called intersex people.

The fixed nature of biological sex ensures the healthy development of society and the preservation of basic social norms."

– the Fidesz MPs stated in their proposal. They say the amendment is not an attack on those whose identity does not match their birth sex, because that is a private matter. But they argue that if gender reassignment were legally allowed, it would be "a starting point from which a whole series of legal consequences would follow, leading to several legal and social uncertainties.