In autumn 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that civil status law must allow for a further positive gender entry, as people who cannot be permanently assigned to either the male or female gender would otherwise have their fundamental rights violated. On Wednesday, August 15, 2018, the Federal Cabinet approved a draft law that will allow people to indicate their gender as “diverse” in future.
“We welcome the legal recognition of further gender designations in addition to male and female. The third option, diverse, reflects the diversity of gender identities and was also proposed by associations of those affected,” explains Florian Zimmermann, President of the Humanistischer Verband Deutschlands – Bundesverband. “The long absence of linguistic representation has strongly influenced society’s perception of a binary male-female mindset. With serious consequences such as medically unnecessary operations on newborn babies who do not fit into this scheme.”
The draft bill also stipulates that a medical certificate must be submitted to prove “that a variant of gender development exists”. Furthermore, the wording “variant gender development” excludes trans people, among others, from the third gender option.
“As humanists, we are clearly in favor of the right to self-determination, including when it comes to choosing one’s own gender identity. That’s why we urgently need to continue on this path,” says Zimmermann. “The compulsory medical proof for a change of gender in the civil status register must also be abolished immediately.”
