Germany proposes rules to ease legal changes of gender
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER
AP
today
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is illuminated in rainbow colors, Sunday, June 26, 2022. The German government on Tuesday presented a proposal for a law that will 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.
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin is illuminated in rainbow colors, Sunday, June 26, 2022. The German government on Tuesday presented a proposal for a law that will 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.
(Annette Riedl/dpa via AP, File)
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Tuesday presented a proposal for a law that will make it easier for 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.
“We have taken another big step forward with the self-determination act and with it also in the protection against discrimination and the rights of transgender, intersex and nonbinary people,” Germany’s minister for families, Lisa Paus, said.
“This way we can give back some of the dignity to those who have been deprived of it for decades,” she added.
The existing “transsexual law,” which took effect in 1981, currently requires individuals to obtain assessments from two experts — such as physicians — 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.
“Transgender people have been affected by discrimination and undignified treatment for far too long — we will finally put this condition behind us,” said Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who presented the proposal together with the family minister.
The new government proposal declares that for children under the age of 14, legal guardians have to submit the declaration of change, while teenagers aged 14 and older should be able to submit the declaration of change themselves — but it should include the support of their custodians.
Germany’s government isn’t the only one trying to make gender changes easier in Europe.
Spain passed a law earlier this year that allows people over 16 years of age to change their legally registered gender without any medical supervision.
Minors between 12-13 years old need a judge’s authorization to change, while those between 14 and 16 must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
On Tuesday, Spain’s Constitutional Court said it will consider a legal challenge lodged by the far-right Vox party against the new law.
In Scotland, First Minister Humza Yousaf said last month he will challenge the British government over its decision to block a law that makes it easier for people to change their gender on official documents.
The passage of Scotland’s bill in December was hailed by transgender rights activists but vetoed by the British government, which argued it could undermine U.K.-wide equality legislation that guarantees women and girls access to single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.
The bill would allow people aged 16 or older in Scotland to change the gender designation on identity documents by self-declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. It would also speed up legal recognition of the change from two years to three months for adults and to six months for people aged 16 and 17.
BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Tuesday presented a proposal for a law that will make it easier for 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.
“We have taken another big step forward with the self-determination act and with it also in the protection against discrimination and the rights of transgender, intersex and nonbinary people,” Germany’s minister for families, Lisa Paus, said.
“This way we can give back some of the dignity to those who have been deprived of it for decades,” she added.
The existing “transsexual law,” which took effect in 1981, currently requires individuals to obtain assessments from two experts — such as physicians — 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.
“Transgender people have been affected by discrimination and undignified treatment for far too long — we will finally put this condition behind us,” said Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, who presented the proposal together with the family minister.
The new government proposal declares that for children under the age of 14, legal guardians have to submit the declaration of change, while teenagers aged 14 and older should be able to submit the declaration of change themselves — but it should include the support of their custodians.
Germany’s government isn’t the only one trying to make gender changes easier in Europe.
Spain passed a law earlier this year that allows people over 16 years of age to change their legally registered gender without any medical supervision.
Minors between 12-13 years old need a judge’s authorization to change, while those between 14 and 16 must be accompanied by their parents or legal guardians.
On Tuesday, Spain’s Constitutional Court said it will consider a legal challenge lodged by the far-right Vox party against the new law.
In Scotland, First Minister Humza Yousaf said last month he will challenge the British government over its decision to block a law that makes it easier for people to change their gender on official documents.
The passage of Scotland’s bill in December was hailed by transgender rights activists but vetoed by the British government, which argued it could undermine U.K.-wide equality legislation that guarantees women and girls access to single-sex spaces such as changing rooms and shelters.
The bill would allow people aged 16 or older in Scotland to change the gender designation on identity documents by self-declaration, removing the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria. It would also speed up legal recognition of the change from two years to three months for adults and to six months for people aged 16 and 17.
Trans minors protected from parents under Washington law
By ED KOMENDA
By ED KOMENDA
yesterday
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs bills at the Washington State Capitol, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Olympia, Wash. One of those bills was Senate Bill 5599, which was designed to protect young people seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signs bills at the Washington State Capitol, Tuesday, May 9, 2023, in Olympia, Wash. One of those bills was Senate Bill 5599, which was designed to protect young people seeking reproductive health services or gender-affirming care.
(AP Photo/Ed Komenda)
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Minors seeking gender-affirming care in Washington will be protected from the intervention of estranged parents under a measure Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Tuesday.
The new law is part of a wave of legislation this year in Democratic-led states intended to give refuge amid a conservative movement in which lawmakers in other states have attacked transgender rights and limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors.
Licensed shelters and host homes in Washington had generally been required to notify parents within 72 hours when a minor came into their care. Under the new law, facilities can instead contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which could then attempt to reunify the family if feasible. Youths will also be allowed to stay at host homes — private, volunteer homes that temporarily house young people without parental permission.
“With this bill, Washington leads the way by taking a more compassionate, developmentally appropriate, and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services,” Inslee said shortly before signing the measure.
More than a half-dozen states, from New Jersey to Vermont to Colorado, have passed or are considering similar bills or executive orders around transgender health care, civil rights and other legal protections. In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in March signed a bill outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time in her state.
Oregon lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that would further expand insurance coverage for gender-affirming care to include things like facial hair removal and Adam’s apple reduction surgery, procedures currently considered cosmetic by insurers but seen as critical to the mental health of transitioning women.
Shield protections have been enacted this year in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and New Mexico. California, Massachusetts and Connecticut passed their own measures last year, largely barring authorities from complying with subpoenas, arrest warrants or extradition requests from states that have banned gender-affirming treatments.
Protections in blue states are being baked into law as Republican-led states take steps to bar access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors, which for people under 18 typically involves puberty blockers or other hormone treatments. Restrictions have gone into effect in eight states this year — including conservative Utah and South Dakota — and are slated to in at least nine more by next year.
Those who oppose gender-affirming care raise fears about the long-term effects treatments have on teens, argue research is limited and focus particularly on irreversible procedures such as genital surgery or mastectomies.
Yet those operations are rarely performed on minors. Doctors typically guide kids toward therapy or voice coaching long before medical intervention. Puberty blockers, anti-androgens that block the effects of testosterone, and hormone treatments are far more common than surgery. They have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are standard treatments backed by major doctors’ organizations, including the American Medical Association.
In Washington, local Republican lawmakers have spent weeks railing against the legislation signed into law Tuesday. Senate GOP leader John Braun said in March that it would drive “a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents.” Online, some users have twisted the content of the measure to suggest it will see the state ripping children from their homes.
But those claims misrepresented the legislation, which is intended to keep estranged young people housed, according to experts and the lawmaker sponsoring the bill. The bill does not address custody and would not result in the state taking children away from their homes and parents.
The Washington legislation requires the state Department of Children, Youth and Families to make a “good faith attempt” to notify parents after they are contacted by shelters or host homes and offer services designed to “resolve the conflict and accomplish a reunification of the family,” according to the bill text. Family reunification efforts would be pursued when possible, according to Washington state Sen. Marko Liias, a Democrat who was the bill’s primary sponsor.
“The law is going to have a positive impact for youth around the state who need housing and stability at a really difficult moment,” Liias said.
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Minors seeking gender-affirming care in Washington will be protected from the intervention of estranged parents under a measure Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Tuesday.
The new law is part of a wave of legislation this year in Democratic-led states intended to give refuge amid a conservative movement in which lawmakers in other states have attacked transgender rights and limited or banned gender-affirming care for minors.
Licensed shelters and host homes in Washington had generally been required to notify parents within 72 hours when a minor came into their care. Under the new law, facilities can instead contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, which could then attempt to reunify the family if feasible. Youths will also be allowed to stay at host homes — private, volunteer homes that temporarily house young people without parental permission.
“With this bill, Washington leads the way by taking a more compassionate, developmentally appropriate, and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services,” Inslee said shortly before signing the measure.
More than a half-dozen states, from New Jersey to Vermont to Colorado, have passed or are considering similar bills or executive orders around transgender health care, civil rights and other legal protections. In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in March signed a bill outlawing discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation for the first time in her state.
Oregon lawmakers are expected to pass a bill that would further expand insurance coverage for gender-affirming care to include things like facial hair removal and Adam’s apple reduction surgery, procedures currently considered cosmetic by insurers but seen as critical to the mental health of transitioning women.
Shield protections have been enacted this year in Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey and New Mexico. California, Massachusetts and Connecticut passed their own measures last year, largely barring authorities from complying with subpoenas, arrest warrants or extradition requests from states that have banned gender-affirming treatments.
Protections in blue states are being baked into law as Republican-led states take steps to bar access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors, which for people under 18 typically involves puberty blockers or other hormone treatments. Restrictions have gone into effect in eight states this year — including conservative Utah and South Dakota — and are slated to in at least nine more by next year.
Those who oppose gender-affirming care raise fears about the long-term effects treatments have on teens, argue research is limited and focus particularly on irreversible procedures such as genital surgery or mastectomies.
Yet those operations are rarely performed on minors. Doctors typically guide kids toward therapy or voice coaching long before medical intervention. Puberty blockers, anti-androgens that block the effects of testosterone, and hormone treatments are far more common than surgery. They have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade and are standard treatments backed by major doctors’ organizations, including the American Medical Association.
In Washington, local Republican lawmakers have spent weeks railing against the legislation signed into law Tuesday. Senate GOP leader John Braun said in March that it would drive “a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents.” Online, some users have twisted the content of the measure to suggest it will see the state ripping children from their homes.
But those claims misrepresented the legislation, which is intended to keep estranged young people housed, according to experts and the lawmaker sponsoring the bill. The bill does not address custody and would not result in the state taking children away from their homes and parents.
The Washington legislation requires the state Department of Children, Youth and Families to make a “good faith attempt” to notify parents after they are contacted by shelters or host homes and offer services designed to “resolve the conflict and accomplish a reunification of the family,” according to the bill text. Family reunification efforts would be pursued when possible, according to Washington state Sen. Marko Liias, a Democrat who was the bill’s primary sponsor.
“The law is going to have a positive impact for youth around the state who need housing and stability at a really difficult moment,” Liias said.
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