After the planned self-determination law was agreed in the coalition agreement, nothing happened for a long time. Now, however, the discussion about an easier change of the gender entry is gaining momentum.
Plans for easier gender entry and first name changes are becoming more concrete. “With the Self-Determination Act, we are introducing a simple and uniform regulation for changing the gender entry. In this way, we are giving those affected back some of their dignity, which the state has denied them for decades,” said Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens). She published the paper on Tuesday together with Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP). The associations can now submit a statement to the ministries by the end of May.
Associations welcome the draft of the self-determination law
The traffic light parties had agreed on the project in their coalition agreement. According to the plans, everyone in Germany should in future be able to determine their gender and first name themselves and change them in a simple procedure at the registry office. According to the Ministry of Family Affairs and Justice, the law is aimed at transgender, intersex and non-binary people.
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The Lesbian and Gay Association in Germany welcomed the publication of the draft. “Since the key issues paper was presented in June 2022, those affected and their interest groups have been waiting for this next step for a long time, which has been postponed several times,” said Mara Geri from the federal executive board. The association now wants to analyze the regulations in detail.
Kalle Hümpfner from the Trans* Federal Association expressed a similar view: “For far too long there has been no initiative at the political level to introduce a human rights-based regulation. The current government is finally tackling this long-overdue project and is presenting the associations with a draft.”
According to the ministries, “trans” includes people who do not identify or only identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. “Inter” means having congenital physical characteristics “that cannot be clearly classified as (only) male or (only) female according to medical standards”. “Non-binary” is used as a self-designation for people who do not identify as either male or female.
Source: Stern
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