Dhe debate about the right to self-determination was fierce. On the one hand there were complaints about transphobia, on the other hand about an alleged transmode. The arguments ranged from the well-being of children to everyday life in women’s saunas. It was clear that an adjustment was necessary. The law, the draft of which the cabinet passed on Wednesday, will be satisfactory, but not everyone will be satisfied. There are complaints about transphobic undertones as well as accusations of an unconditional possibility to change gender. The parliamentary debate is unlikely to be any less intense in the coming months.
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) and Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) were nonetheless confident on Wednesday. “All people have a right to the state respecting their gender identity,” said Buschmann. “Current law harasses transgender people. We want to end this undignified state of affairs.” Paus said the reform serves “to protect minorities that have been discriminated against for a long time and is socio-political progress”. While 3,232 applications for a change of gender entry were registered in 2021, the government expects around 4,000 annually in the future.
No upper limit for changes
The previously applicable transsexual law of 1980 initially provided for a “small” and a “big solution”: one was a name change without changing the gender entry, the other provided for a judicial determination of the gender change. However, the Federal Constitutional Court has rejected large parts of the law as unconstitutional. The procedure was considered to be long and complex, two expert opinions were required, all of which was often described as stressful and degrading by those affected. That should be the end of it in the future.
The Self-Determination Act is aimed at transsexual, intersex and non-binary people who see themselves as neither man nor woman. A change in the gender entry should be announced three months before the declaration at the registry office. There is no numerical limit to how often the gender entry can be changed. However, there is the restriction that after a change there is a blocking period of one year before another can be made.
It’s not about gender reassignment measures
If children under the age of 14 want to change their gender, the parents must apply to the registry office. From the age of 14, young people can apply themselves, but they need the consent of their parents. If children and parents do not agree, a family court must decide, whereby the best interests of the child should be the benchmark. In the future, it will also be possible for transgender parents to no longer have themselves entered in the birth certificate as father or mother, but as “parent”. The law does not deal with gender reassignment measures.
Adjustments were made to prevent misuse of the changed gender entry. Criminals should not simply escape prosecution by changing their sex, or foreigners should not be deported – instead, security authorities should be informed about change requests.
In the case of changing rooms or saunas for women, which some saw as a threat to the necessary shelters, reference is now made to domestic law. However, it is noted that the General Equal Treatment Act, which is intended to prevent discrimination, continues to apply.
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