Germany to pass ‘Self-Determination Act’ to permit citizens to change their official gender once a year, every year, any individual who identifies as non-binary will be able to change their gender by simply filling out a form at nearest registry office

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on June 30th, 2022 presented plans to make it easier for transgender people to legally change their name and gender, ending decades-old rules that require them to get expert assessments and a court’s authorization.

Under the planned “self-determination law,” adults would be able to change their first name and legal gender at registry offices without further formalities.

The existing “transsexual law,” which took effect in 1981, currently requires individuals to obtain assessments from two experts whose training and experience make them “sufficiently familiar with the particular problems of transsexualism” and then a court decision to change the gender on official documents.

Over the years, Germany’s top court has struck down other provisions that required transgender people to get divorced and sterilized and to undergo gender-transition surgery.

The existing law “breathes the spirit of the ’70s,” Germany’s minister for families, Lisa Paus, said. “At the time, the state wanted to help people who were considered psychologically ill, and it set high hurdles for this.”

The current requirements “are not just lengthy and expensive; they are also deeply humiliating, but above all they are completely superfluous,” Paus told reporters in Berlin.

The proposed new rules provide for minors ages 14 and older to change their name and legal gender with approval from their parents or guardians; if they don’t agree, teenagers could ask a family court to overrule them.

In the case of children under 14, parents or guardians would have to make registry office applications on their behalf.

Paus said that after a formal change of name and gender is registered, no further changes would be allowed for a year, a provision intended to “ensure the seriousness of the desire to change.” The proposed legislation focuses on individuals’ legal identities; it does not involve any revisions to Germany’s rules for gender-transition surgery,

The minister said the regulation also would allow fines in cases where information on a person’s gender or name change is disclosed without their permission.

The key points of the plan published Thursday also include an unspecified amount of compensation for transgender and intersex people who were “affected by bodily harm or forced divorces under previous legislation.”

“It is time for us to apologize to the affected for this injustice and compensate them,” Paus said.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said he’s confident that new legislation incorporating the changes will be brought to the Cabinet later this year. It will then require approval by parliament’s lower house, in which Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition of three socially liberal parties has a comfortable majority.

The change is the second in a series of planned liberalizing reforms that Scholz’s government has tackled since taking office in December. Last week, lawmakers voted to end a ban on “advertising” abortions that led in the past to doctors being prosecuted for providing information about the procedure to potential patients.

The coalition government aims to produce legislation later this year to legalize the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes. It also wants to ease the path to German citizenship, lift restrictions on dual citizenship and reduce the minimum age for voting in national and European Union elections from 18 to 16.

I don’t understand how the transgender issue has gained such centrality in progressive politics and among the ruling class. But it is becoming a civilizational question. When subjective feelings and internal psychological states of being become the end-all and be-all defining society, chaos will surely follow.

Translator @TweetTranslat10 pointed out, "A Norwegian feminist could face 3 years in prison for saying biological men can't be lesbians. The Self-Determination Act of FDP & Greens is the first step in Germany in this direction. We are supposed to believe lies."

Germany is following the example of other European countries

Germany would not the first country to allow legal gender change through self-declaration. The system is already in place in several other European countries, including Denmark, Belgium and Switzerland. "The right to live a self-determined life is fundamental to all people," Paus said at a press conference in Berlin. "We live in a free and diverse society that is already further along in many places than our laws are. It's about time that we adapt the legal framework to societal reality.”

Paus said that the process required by Germany’s transsexual law is "not just lengthy and expensive but also deeply humiliating. But above all, is it completely superfluous." However, any legal gender changes made under the new self-determination law mean that no further changes can be made within the following year, so as to "ensure the seriousness of the desire to change."

Paus also explained that the new law will allow for fines to be given where a name or gender change is revealed without prior permission.

Philipp Eckstein @PhilippEckstein in 2020 had written that the Federal Constitutional Court of #Germany: "Where [...] an individual decides to end their own life, [...] their decision must, in principle, be respected by state and society as an act of autonomous self-determination."

Nadine Jasper @nadine_jasper lambasted out, "Proof as if proof were needed that this pick your own gender is a scam is Germany introducing a law that allows you to change your gender officially once a year. Surely if genuine you would be the same self chosen gender consistently year after year, not a new one every year."

Narîn Pîran Alxas @narin_piran ridiculed the news, "In other words: I can go to the registry office and say „I‘m a man“ and it will be recognized and changed. But if I say "Hey I'm Kurdish, please change this“ it doesn't work."

Just a Girl @AllBiteNoBark88 scolded the news, "Confuse the younger generations. Offer them hormones that destroy their reproductive capabilities, likely before they are emotionally mature enough to understand the weight of their decisions. Beyond Evil & SHOCKING from Germany given their History."

According to polls conducted by YouGov, 46% of Germans approve of the government's plans to affirm gender dysphoria as a legitimate identity. 

The law is only seeing opposition from feminist groups who argue that the legislation will take rights and safety away from women and the German conservative AfD party. 

The legislation “has nothing to do with freedom but is an expression of blatant denial of reality. In biology, laws cannot simply be ignored,” said AfD’s Stephan Brandner, a member of the German parliament, Summit News reported. 

The CDU party has also voiced opposition to the legislation, saying it could lead to “arbitrariness” in how government documents identify persons. 

The FDP party argues that the law could make it easier for criminals to evade police or creditors by changing their names and identity.