GERMANY’S highest court has decided that people must be allowed to be entered in official records as neither male nor female, ruling that authorities should either create a third identity or scrap gender entries altogether.
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled in the case of a person who had applied to have their entry in the birth register changed from “female” to “inter/diverse” or “diverse”.
Officials rejected this on the grounds the law only lets children to be registered as male or female, or for the gender to be left blank.
The plaintiff, whose name was not released, argued that this was a violation of their personal rights.
The court found that the law protects sexual identity, which has a “key position” in how individuals perceive themselves and are perceived by others.
It said that “the sexual identity of those people who can be assigned neither to the male nor the female sex is also protected”, and said the constitution also protects them against discrimination because of their gender.
The German government has until the end of 2018 to make new rules.
The court said authorities have two ways to ensure that the rules comply with the constitution. It said that they could decide to do without any gender entry in civil registers — but “can also create the possibility for the affected people to choose another positive designation of their sex that is not male or female”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel