Religious and conservative leaders in Albania are sounding the alarm over a proposed “gender equality” law that they say will undermine the foundations of human nature, the family, and society. 

Albania, a small country of 2.7 million people in the Balkan peninsula of southeastern Europe, is largely conservative, with Muslims and Christians making up two-thirds of the country. However, the left-leaning Socialist Party led by Prime Minister Edi Rama has remained firmly in power for over a decade, with observers reporting that Rama’s party has shaped elections in their favor through “widespread use of administrative resources.” Albania is also on track to become part of the European Union (EU), and observers say the gender equality legislation was undertaken partly in order to align with EU legislation.

According to the Albanian Times, the original language in the bill “initially proposed redefining gender in a way that would have allowed recognition beyond the traditional male-female binary.” But after intense public backlash, the Socialist Party “moved swiftly to amend the bill, reaffirming the constitutional definition of gender as man and woman.”

Still, religious leaders in Albania remain highly wary of the legislation. In a joint letter issued by Muslim, Orthodox, Catholic, evangelical, and Bektashi representatives, the leaders warned that the bill “changes the meaning of sex and elevates it to a fully self-determined category, separating the human person from biological reality,” further insisting that “the moral and cultural traditions of the people” must be respected. They also noted that the legislation calls for introducing gender identity ideology into schools. “Teaching minors these concepts at an early age may do more harm than good,” the letter emphasized.

Akil Pano, a leading Albanian pastor and founder and president of the National Albania Pro-Life and Family Coalition, joined “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins” on Thursday to delve into the bill’s origin and ramifications. “[This] bill is aiming to radically transform our culture, undermine personal freedom, alter language, law, tradition, [and] introduce gender ideology into our schools,” he explained. “[It will] erode the moral foundations of the family and push society towards the woke ideology.”

Pano further pointed out that the Open Society Foundation, the American organization funded by leftist billionaire George Soros, infiltrated Albania’s socialist government with the aim “to push further this agenda in Albania.” As noted by Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, Open Society “teamed up with the Obama administration [and] the Biden administration, working all through Europe to try to tilt government toward pro-abortion, gender confused policies.”

The “saddest part,” Pano went on, “is that this is going against the will of the Albanian people. We just finished a national survey [with] 10,000 people [who] participated. … [I]n one voice, 99% of Albanians [said] they are against this bill. … We as clerics in Albania, we see it as we are risking [being] canceled. We are risking [our] freedom of speech and the freedom of faith, the freedom of conscience, because there are so many sanctions in this bill that are forbidding us to be true to our beliefs. … They start with fines, and then you are risking going to jail if you are not submitting to the agenda.”

Pano went on to expand upon the full implications of the legislation if it is made into law.

“[T]hey are talking about more than 72 different genders [that] can be recognized through this bill,” he detailed. “Gender sensitive language … carries a lot of risk to [places of] work, … in the legal documents such as passports, diplomas, and forms [as well as] courts, procedures, institutions, schools, and media. … Then they are talking about gender ideology in the schools [which will cause] curriculums [to] change, transforming the way our kids are going to be taught in schools. Teachers and psychologists are going to be trained by LGBTQ+ organizations. They are talking about gender equality in sports, … they are talking about transgenders in the army, and so on and so forth.”

As Perkins noted, Albania’s legislative efforts appear to be moving in the opposite direction of the Trump administration and a number of other European countries such as the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland that have all pulled back from gender transition procedures for minors.

As the gender identity law continues to be debated in Albania’s parliament, Pano concluded by asking for prayers. “Please pray for us and pray that United States Embassy in Tirana would stay in alignment with the State Department, would stay in alignment with the will of Albanian people and with President Trump’s declaration that there are only two genders. A little bit of help from the United States Embassy may make a huge difference in our situation here.”