This is what the so-called “Self-Determination Act” provides for, which is intended to replace the previously applicable Transsexual Act of 1980. This is now seen as “discriminatory” because it requires medical and psychological assessments before sex reassignment (even a nominal one) is undertaken.

If the new regulation is implemented as planned, it will no longer matter whether the person is transgender, “non-binary” or “intergender” when it comes to entering gender and first names. Reports on sexual identity or a medical certificate should no longer be required for a change in the future.

This will also apply to children. For minors up to the age of 14 their legal guardians are required to submit the declaration of change to the registry office. Young people from the age of 14 will be able to submit the declaration themselves, but with the consent of their parents. The draft law apparently assumes that, thanks to relevant sexual re-education in schools, minors will also increasingly have doubts about their gender in the future.

The law provides for a “ban on disclosure subject to a fine”. This is intended to prohibit the publication of information about a person’s previous gender identity or previous first name if they do not want it. It’s about preventing a “forced coming out,” said Paus. The most prominent case is the Greens member of the Bundestag “Tessa” Ganserer (currently listed as a female), who until a few years ago was still a man.

Children are the victims

Worryingly, children as young as 14 will be able to have a sex change operation enforced by a court, even against the will of their parents.

MEP Joachim Kuhs, spokesperson for “Christians in the AfD” commented: “The federal government is pushing the transgender hype among young people, which is rejected by the broad public. Gays, lesbians and feminists agree with parents, Christians, Muslims, Jews and child protectionists on this point: there must be no gender reassignment of minors without the consent of the parents.

“If the federal government insists on pushing this issue through, it will meet its Waterloo in the next elections, because no force in the world is as powerful as a mother fighting for her children.”

The bill will fail because of its own contradictions, because on the one hand, it forbids talking about the issue at all if someone is trans (per the “ban on disclosure”); on the other hand, it promises sports clubs the freedom to decide. “This is because advocates of this bill realise that their plan will destroy women’s sports […] That will not go well,” he added.

German Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) on Thursday was elated: “Today is a good day for civil liberties in our country. And for diversity.”

The previously applicable transsexual law, which required an expert opinion on changing civil status, will be replaced by a “modern self-determination law” she said . The plausibility of the required change is not made dependent on visual characteristics. A declaration of intent to a registrar is sufficient.

The Greens politician criticized that the previous regulation had pathologized people who felt they belonged to the opposite sex for years and inappropriately interfered with their privacy. Legal hurdles, such as undergoing an assessment by a judge, are “inhuman”. No one can determine another person’s gender identity. “We live in a free and diverse society,” she emphasized.

Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) said the old transsexual law was not up to date. It is normal not to identify with one’s biological birth sex, although statistically it is a rarity. “We are introducing a piece of normality,” he said.

It requires a law that fits “our free constitution”. The right to self-determination is only about questions of civil status.

‘Deadnaming’ becomes a punishable offence

In order to protect the personal rights and privacy of transsexuals who have the information in their ID documents changed, there should also be a so-called disclosure ban. Anyone who practices “deadnaming”, i.e. naming the discarded name or the birth sex of a transgender, can be punished with a fine. According to Buschmann, this should prevent a “forced coming out”.

According to the plans of the federal government, minors from the age of 14 would have the right to have their first name and gender entry changed. If parents resist, a family court should decide on a case-by-case basis. The change in marital status can be reversed for both young people and adults after one year at the earliest.

Even if the new regulation is for a small group, it is an important topic, the Minister of Justice emphasized. The issue could be decided in around six to nine months.

The transsexual member of the Bundestag Tessa Ganserer (Greens) praised the proposed self-determination law. “Being able to live freely means that only every person can say for themselves which gender they belong to.”

Gender bill masks the real problem: poverty

The focus on gender appears to be a way for mainstream politicians to avoid the real topic: the proportion of poor people in Germany has reached a new high. This was announced by the Parity Welfare Association. According to the current poverty report, 13,8 million people live on less than 60 percent of the average income. In the past two years alone, 600 000 more were included in the category.

The general manager of the joint general association, Ulrich Schneider, was dismayed. “Never before has a higher value been measured on the basis of the official microcensus, and never before has poverty spread so rapidly as during the pandemic.” In view of the prevailing inflation, the situation will worsen, Schneider estimated.

The self-employed, pensioners and children are the losers. The proportion of those falling under the official poverty definition is now at a record 16,6 percent of the total population. The impoverishment in the group of self-employed people, who suffered particularly from the lockdown measures, is dramatic to say the least. Here, the proportion of people with precarious income rose from nine to 13,8 percent.

But pensioners (17,9 percent) and children (20 percent) are now much more likely to be affected by poverty expressed as a ratio that determines the proportion of people in the lower income segment.