Original article (in Serbian) was published on 25/07/2022
In Germany these days, there is a controversy surrounding the proposal of a new law that should make it easier for people to change their gender in documents. If the law is passed, this will mean that young people over the age of 14 will also have the right to such “self-determination”. Vecernje novosti interpreted these events with the headline: “They are forcing primary school students to choose their gender” and added that, under the same law, they would be able to undergo hormone therapy and surgeries without the consent of their parents. However, the law’s initiator – the German Ministry for Family Affairs – states that there are no such provisions on operations without parental consent in the law: “No, that was not planned. It never was”.
The text published in the weekly edition of “Vecernje novosti” states that now, apparently, “every German will be able to decide on his gender and name, and he can change both whenever he wants”.
“They force primary school students to choose their gender. (…) It doesn’t end there, the German teenager will be able to be treated with hormones or even surgically, independently and against the will of his parents. The new regulation stipulates that gender can be “changed” simply by filling out a form at the registrar’s office”, Vecernje novosti writes.
It is true that young people over the age of 14 will be able to change their name and gender in personal documents through a simple procedure if the law is passed. However, it is not true that anyone will “force” them to do such a thing.
Also, Vecernje novosti’s claim that the law will allow minors to surgically change their gender and take hormones without parental consent has been repeatedly denied by the German Ministry for Family Affairs, which presented the basic ideas of this law to the public at the end of June. The draft law has not yet been completed or submitted to the Bundestag for discussion.
“The planned law will only regulate the possibility of changing the entry of gender and name in the register. The ministry said that people continue to decide on medical measures for gender reassignment with their doctors based on existing specialist guidelines”.
In addition to the ministry, Sven Leman, the commissioner in the German Ministry for Family Affairs and one of the creators of these changes to the law from the “Green” party, denied the claims that children will be able to undergo surgery without the consent of their parents.
“No, it was not planned. It never was”, Leman wrote in a text for the German Welt, claiming that it is disinformation and transphobia.
The subject of this law, as they point out, is exclusively the change of name and gender through documents, such as an identity card, passport and other personal documents. If the law “passes”, it will be enough for a person to go to the registry office with a statement that he wants to change his name and gender in the documents. The person’s biological sex does not have to be changed, that is, it is not necessary for a person to go through any operations or hormonal therapy if he/she does not want it.
The same applies to young people over the age of 14 – each of them, if they feel that they do not belong to the gender they were born with, will be able to submit a request for a change in the registry office, but with the consent of their parents or guardians. If the parent or guardian does not give consent, the family court in Germany will decide on this.
The right-wing is protesting
The text by Vecernje novosti is based on the claims of the opponents of this law, biologist Marie Vollbrecht and doctor Alexander Korte. They are also the initiators of the appeal “Enough with inaccurate reporting by public services”, which has so far been joined by more than 1,600 people. They claim that the media and popular culture, due to the “trans and queer lobby”, promote transsexualism, which is why, in their opinion, more and more young people are confused about their sexual identity.
And the German right-wing party AfD (Alternative for Germany) recently sent questions to the federal government, asking for more information about the law itself – not only about the alleged surgeries, but also about whether a person will be able to change gender multiple times, whether they have information about how many people who changed their gender “committed suicide” afterward and the like.
The Commissioner in the Ministry for Family Affairs, Sven Leman, says that no one changes their gender or their body for fun, but that it is a “hard journey”.
“In the current debate on the reform, the question is repeatedly raised whether the age limit of 14 is appropriate for changing the name with the consent of the parents. My opinion is that many young people have known for years, some from early childhood, that their assigned gender does not correspond to their identity”, said Leman. “Trans people don’t follow a fashion phenomenon. It takes a lot of courage to change your gender. (…) No one takes this step lightly”.
If this law is adopted, it will replace the so-called The transsexual law, which has been in force since 1981, and is now considered outdated and discriminatory. According to this law, a person who, for example, was born as a man but feels like a woman, until now, needed a lot of time, money and bureaucracy to be registered as a woman in the registry books.
In the first place, it is necessary to initiate court proceedings in which the opinions of two psychiatric experts are obtained.
“These evaluations and proceedings before the court are long and expensive. Very intimate questions, which are considered offensive and discriminatory, often have to be answered”, the ministry states.
Intimate questions that transgender people have to answer during these psychiatric evaluations also concern the frequency of masturbation, wearing women’s underwear (for men), sexual fantasies and the like. This kind of practice is considered outdated and humiliating by a part of the public in Germany today.
In addition, until 2011, transgender people in Germany, in order to change their gender in the documentation, had to undergo not only an operative gender change but also sterilization.
The new law, they point out, should improve the lives of transsexuals and recognize gender diversity since the old law is more than 40 years old, and the federal court has repeatedly declared some of its parts unconstitutional.
“The goal of the project is to create a simple, unique procedure for changing the registration of civil status without discriminatory assessments and external determination”, the ministry says.