This Friday, the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, votes on the gender self-determination law
(Selbstbestimmungsgesetz),
reports, among other things
,
the Tagesschau. It mainly aims to facilitate the administrative procedure for changing gender and name. This law would replace the
Transsexualengesetz,
the law on transsexuals, which de facto considers transidentity as a psychological disorder.
Until now, people wanting to change their sex had to provide a medical certificate and go before a court to explain their decision. This will become obsolete once the self-determination law comes into force.
Simple declaration to civil status
From now on, it will be enough to make a declaration to the civil registry to modify the gender or name. The new law also includes non-binary people, as well as, partially, minors aged 14 and over. According to Family Minister Lisa Paus, 14 years would be the appropriate age to choose one's gender and first name because it is the age from which one could choose one's religion:
"It is therefore simply consistent with logic of German legislation
.
The ministerial delegate in charge of LGBTQIA+ rights Sven Lehmann, from the Green party, assures that this law will constitute a massive relief for the people concerned. According to him, this law will
“considerably facilitate and improve the lives of transgender, intersex and non-binary people
,” he tells
Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland
. According to him,
“the law on transsexuals violates human dignity”
.
Many criticisms of this law
This law is not unanimous, especially within the German right. The nationalist party Afd (Alternative für Deutschland) has repeatedly feared that in the future, references to gender could be changed too arbitrarily. According to a press release, the AFD would like to
“maintain the law on transsexuals and improve the protection of people with gender dysphoria”.
The CDU also expressed its doubts about a security risk. Andrea Lindholz, vice-chairwoman of the CSU parliamentary group in the
Bundestag,
criticizes the fact that no measures are being taken to prevent abuse: "
From November, it will be possible to change one's identity by simply declaring to the civil status, without informing the security services. Civil status will not make any comparisons with other databases in order to avoid any abuse,”
laments Lindholz. The self-determination law will come into force on November 1, 2024 if Parliament adopts it. The vote is expected this Friday at the beginning of the afternoon.