The German government adopted a bill on Wednesday that simplifies the gender change that the LGBTQ community has long demanded, following in the footsteps of other European countries such as Spain recently.
The text, a flagship project of the center-left coalition of Olaf Scholz, however, arouses controversy, especially in the conservative ranks who consider it too liberal.
Family Minister Lisa Paus hailed “a great moment for transgender and intersex people in Germany”.
The project on “gender self-determination”, which will still have to be submitted to Parliament, aims to facilitate the change of gender and first name in civil status for transgender, intersex and non-binary people.
It will suffice to complete a declaration with the civil status to change first name and gender.
Germany will thus join the club of countries which have adopted the principle of self-determination, such as Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Luxembourg and even Denmark.
The new law is to replace legislation dating from 1981 which de facto considers transidentity to be a mental illness.
It forces people wishing to change gender to pass two psychological tests and in particular to answer very intimate questions about their sexuality. In the end, a judge makes the decision whether or not to authorize the change.
The Constitutional Court had already partly rejected it and allowed to abolish in the 2010s the obligation of sterilization and surgical intervention before a gender change.
The new text also clarifies the case of minors: for those under 14, only parents or guardians can initiate proceedings.
Those over 14 will be able to initiate the process alone, but with the consent of their parents, failing which a court will have to decide.
There is also time for reflection. It is only after three months that the change will be validated in the civil status.
A possible request to change gender will only be possible after one year.
Kalle Hümpfner, an official of the federal association for the defense of the rights of transgender people (BVT) described the bill to AFP as a “historic opportunity”, which for the first time respects the rights of LGBTQ people.
The Conservative opposition, for its part, considers that the government is going too far.
According to her, people wishing to change gender should consult experts first, and the process should be reserved for adults.
The law “does not do justice to the importance of gender in our legal system”, said Günter Krings, spokesman for the parliamentary group of the conservative opposition party CDU for questions of law.
Alice Schwartzer, 80, a well-known German feminist who has previously launched several anti-transgender campaigns in her magazine Emma, ??said she fears the law will encourage young people to change their gender just because it’s “fashionable”, in an interview with Der Spiegel.
More generally, feminist movements point to the risk that potentially abusive men could abuse the new rules to gain access to spaces reserved for women, such as saunas, changing rooms or “women’s houses”, where victims take refuge. of domestic violence.
Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann specified in this respect that the establishments concerned would continue to establish their access rules in this area.
“This law helps a lot of people to live their sexual identity in an open society but does not take anything from others,” he insisted.
“Violence against women is unfortunately daily: why would men choose the path of a transition to exercise it?”, also points out the Tagesspiegel in an editorial.
Minister Lisa Paus assured that self-determination “already exists in other countries (…) without there being the slightest indication of abuse”.
23/08/2023 18:18:19 Berlin (AFP) © 2023 AFP
