Slovak Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova in November revoked guidelines on the gender transition process, which means that gender confirmation surgery is once again necessary to change gender legally in Slovakia.

Amy Zoyomi is a 29-year-old transgender woman from Lucenec, a town with 30,000 inhabitants in southern Slovakia. As an adult, Amy decided to move to the capital, Bratislava. Her gender identity was one of the main reasons for leaving her hometown.

For Amy, life in Lucenec and life in Bratislava are poles apart. “When I walk down the street in my home town, people often stare at me,” she told DW. “Sometimes they stop, and the stares change to verbal abuse. That doesn’t happen in the capital. I feel safe here, people are much more relaxed and don’t pay so much attention to others,” she explained.