Latvian Saeima opposition party “Latvian in First Place” (LPV) proposes listing in the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia that there are only two genders.
LPV members propose supplementing the fourth paragraph of the introduction to the Constitution with the words:
“The State recognises that there are only two genders – male and female – and does not promote or support the spread of artificially formed genders.”
The fourth paragraph of the introduction to the Constitution states that Latvia as a democratic, legal, socially responsible and national state is based on human dignity and freedom, recognises and protects fundamental human rights and respects minorities. The Latvian people protect their sovereignty, the independence of the Latvian state, the territory, its unity and the democratic state system.
The party led by Ainārs Šlesers believes that their proposal will supplement the Constitution with “a values-based sentence that expresses clearly and unambiguously” that the state recognises only two genders – male and female.
The opposition party refers to the methodological materials of the State Education Content Centre (VISC) for educators “Sexual education. Questions and Answers,” in which they are most confused by “vague gender concepts, such as a genderless person, gender-fluid, a non-binary identity, a diverse gender, queers.”
Including a new sentence in the introduction to the Constitution would include a message that will have to be taken into account when reading the main text. “The introduction to the Constitution is the key to the interpretation of constitutional norms or glasses, through which many norms of the Constitution can be viewed more clearly and in a more focused way,” the opposition party explains in the annotation to the legislative draft.
Latvian politicians regularly come up with initiatives of a similar nature. For example, at the end of 2005, a proposal was voted in for the Constitution that “the state protects and supports marriage – a union between a man and a woman”.