Poland and Hungary Break EU Position in General Assembly Debate on Definition of “Gender” in New Treaty

Apr 21, 2023 by Jill

By Stefano Gennarini, JD, C-Fam:

Poland and Hungary broke ranks with the European Union on how to define the term “gender” during a closed-door debate on a new treaty on crimes against humanity. This is a surprising move as Poland and Hungary have been reluctant to part company with EU countries on sexual issues in UN negotiations.

The existing definition of gender in international law — “men and women in the context of society” — comes in the Rome Statutes that created the International Criminal Court. The left at the UN has opposed that definition since it was first negotiated in 1998.

In negotiations last week, Poland opposed removing this definition of “gender” while Hungary said it would interpret the term according to its own laws and in line with the Rome Statute’s definition.

The rare foray in the UN culture wars by the traditional Central European countries came after a delegate representing the entire European Union had already expressed support for adopting an open definition of gender earlier in the week. Both Poland and Hungary join the other EU countries in adopting a common position. This break with the EU is important.

In negotiations, traditional countries, mostly from Africa, insisted that gender must be defined in the new treaty as it was enshrined in the treaty adopted in Rome in 1998 and that came into force in 2002.

Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, argued that the concept of gender has “evolved” since the Rome Statute was negotiated. They want gender to include new categories such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and others based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Changing the definition of gender would create new categories of crimes against humanity that were never contemplated by UN member states when they adopted the Rome Statute in 1998.

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