People in Germany should soon be able to change their first name and gender more easily at the registry office. This is the central point of the concept for a new self-determination law that Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) presented on Thursday. This law is intended to replace the transsexual law that has been in force since 1980.
Many people find the transsexual law outdated and discriminatory. It has violated the dignity of transsexuals for decades, it pathologizes them and breathes the spirit of the 1970s, said Paus. According to the current legal situation, you can only change the name and the gender entry if two expert opinions can be presented in court. For these often very expensive reports, intimate questions have to be answered. Many people find this process discriminatory.
According to the planned new law, the change in the registry office should be possible. According to the key issues paper, it would be valid for at least one year in the passport. Justice Minister Buschmann said that this would fulfill the promise of the constitution that all people have the right to self-determination.
If minors and their parents disagree, a court should decide
If minors up to the age of 14 want to change their entries, the legal guardians should submit a declaration to the registry office. Young people from the age of 14 should be able to submit the declaration themselves, but only with the consent of their parents. In future, the family court will decide in cases where parents cannot reach an agreement with their children. The key issues paper states: “In order to protect the personal rights of young people, the family court can, in cases in which the legal guardians do not agree, based on the child’s best interests – as in other constellations in family law – the decision of the parents at the request of the minor substitute.”
The new law should only regulate the change of name and gender entry. Physical measures such as gender reassignment surgeries are not regulated in the Self-Determination Act. Such measures would continue to be decided on the basis of medical regulations, according to the key issues paper.
It should also be irrelevant to the law whether it is transsexual, intersexual or non-binary people who want to change their first name or gender in their passport. Trans people don’t feel like they belong to the gender they were assigned at birth. Interhumans cannot be assigned to the medical norm of male and female bodies, but move in a spectrum in between. Non-binary people have neither male nor female gender identity.