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Progressive Move! Germany Unveils Plans To Make Legal Gender Change Easier For Trans People
Writer: Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
Others/World, 1 July 2022 9:35 AM GMT
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A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication with relevant skills, specialising in content editing & writing. I believe in the precise dissemination of information based on facts to the public.
Creatives : Tashafi Nazir
For most people, journalism sounds hectic and chaotic. For her, it's a passion she has been chasing for years. With an extensive media background, Tashafi believes in putting efforts on presenting a simple incident in the most interesting way.
The proposed new rule would replace Germany’s 40-year “transsexual law” that requires individuals to go to court and provide two expert reports before they can legally recognise the name and gender they identify with.
The German government on Thursday, June 30, unveiled plans to make it easier for transgender people to change their first name and gender officially, acknowledging that existing legislation was outdated and "humiliating". Addressing a Berlin press conference, Family Affairs Minister Lisa Paus said that the right to live a self-determined life is fundamental to everyone.
The proposed new rule would replace Germany's 40-year "transsexual law" that requires individuals to go to court and provide two expert reports, mostly from psychotherapists, before they can legally recognise the name and gender they identify with.
Opponents have been calling for the controversial legislation to be scrapped, with applicants complaining of the onerous administrative burden and invasive personal questions, including past sexual behaviour.
Under the new law, it would suffice for an adult applicant to go to their local registry office and declare the change they want to make on official documents, The Guardian reported.
More Straightforward Procedure
Trans or non-binary individuals aged 14 and more would also be allowed to use the new, more straightforward procedure with permission from their parents or legal guardians.
Paus said that the old procedure is not only lengthy and expensive but also profoundly humiliating."We live in a diverse and free society that is already further along in many places than our laws are. It's about time we adapt the legal framework to societal reality," she said.
Germany has lagged behind other European nations on the issue, with Belgium, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland already accepting a self-declaration to change gender status legally.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann stated he expected the coalition government to approve the new legislation before the year-end. It would then still require to go through parliament. LGBTQ activists and human rights groups have repeatedly urged the German government to modernise the "transsexual law", and even the nation's constitutional court has criticised aspects of it.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats, his governing partners from the Green party and the liberal FDP, promised to abolish the law in their coalition pact when they came to power in December 2021. Previous attempts to amend the "transsexual law" faced resistance from former chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc.
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