Germany Introduces Third Gender On Birth Certificates For Inters*x People

* A law allowing intersex people to identify themselves as a
third gender on official documents has gone into effect.

A German law allowing intersex people to register a third gender
on official documents has now gone into effect with the beginning
of the new year.

Approved by parliament on 14 December, the law extends legal
recognition to intersex individuals on documents such as birth
certificates, making Germany the first country in the European
Union to do so, reports CNN^[1].

Germans have had the ability to leave the gender field blank on
birth certificates since 2013, but they now have the option of
identifying themselves as ‘divers’ (miscellaneous) rather than just
male or female.

The new legislation came after a 2017 ruling that not allowing
an intersex person named Vanja to change the gender marker on their
birth certificate was unconstitutional

“I asked myself so many times what it means to be intersex; I
often was upset when I had to decide which box to tick — male or
female. I felt (like I was) being pushed into the corner, that I
had to adjust non-voluntarily,” Vanja told CNN.

They plan to change their gender marker to ‘divers’ to celebrate
the new law, saying they believe it will give them “a new feeling
of peace”, but acknowledged that it was just one small step towards
further intersex acceptance.

“Societal acceptance cannot be mandated by a court ruling, but
it is a step in the right direction.”

The legislation has drawn criticism for requiring applicants who
wish to be identified as ‘divers’ to undergo invasive medical
examinations to prove they’re intersex.

Senior lecturer at London’s The City Law School, Grietje Baars,
told CNN that subjecting intersex individuals to
unnecessary medical examinations could potentially inflict further
trauma on people who often have a history of “traumatic medical
interference with their genitalia”.

Baars also believes it reinforces outdated views on gender being
a biological trait.

“You can not simply decide gender by looking at people’s
genitalia,” they said.

Baars stated that the German government should have abolished
the gender field altogether.

“It’s like abolishing registering your religion or race on your
ID or documents — it does not mean you can no longer be Catholic or
black … those things are not the same. I am just saying that it is
no business of the state to register and categorise people in that
manner,” they said.

Criticism has also been aimed at the fact the legislation is
limited only to intersex individuals, rather than anyone who
doesn’t identify as male or female, such as trans or gender diverse
people.

Speaking to
the Thomson Reuters Foundation^[2], a spokesman for the
Lesbian and Gay Federation said, “For trans people, nothing has
changed regarding the obstacles they face to change their
registered name and gender.”

In Australia, gender recognition on official documents is
generally the responsibility of state governments.

Australian passports allow the use of ‘X’ as a gender marker in
situations where someone doesn’t identify as male or female,
whereas driver’s licences in many states leave off gender
altogether

In the Northern Territory it’s now
possible to amend your birth certificate^[3] to reflect if you
are intersex or gender diverse, while Tasmania’s lower house recently passed
legislation^[4] which could give
parents the option of leaving gender markers off of birth
certificates.

Prime
Minister Scott Morrison^[5] and federal
Liberal MP Stuart Robert^[6] have both been
vocally critical of the proposed changes in Tasmania, although
their arguments have little to do with the contents of the actual
legislation.