22 November 2023
Deregulating Legal Gender in the Shadow of Social Ascription
On 23 August 2023, the German government published a bill on Gender Self-Determination (hereinafter also referred to as SBGG-E). The bill is currently under debate before the German parliament (Bundestag) and is subject to heated socio-political debate. Its primary objective consists of deregulating the conditions for altering and deleting the gender entry provided by the German Civil Status Act. Aside from a strong commitment to deregulating legal gender (Section 1 SBGG-E), the bill sets boundaries and conditions for gender recognition. While some appear self-explanatory, others are infused by what I will hereinafter refer to as the ‘logic of social ascription’. Continue reading >>
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02 March 2023
Barring Legal Gender Reassignment in Bulgaria
The Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation (SCC) has recently rejected the possibility for legal gender reassignment of transgender people. The SCC followed the approach of the Constitutional Court in framing its reasoning alongside the lines of the traditional social values. In doing so, the interpretative decision arguably undermined its own goal of unifying the future case-law by avoiding the discussion on the right to equal treatment of transgender persons and their protection from discrimination on the ground of their sexuality. Continue reading >>29 November 2018
Zwischen Unbehagen und Ignoranz. Die Anhörung im Gesetzgebungsverfahren zur “Dritten Option”
Seit dem Beschluss des Bundesverfassungsgerichts vom Oktober letzten Jahres wird um eine verfassungskonforme (Nicht-)Erfassung des Personenstandes gerungen, zuletzt in einer kontroversen Anhörung des Innenausschusses am Montag dieser Woche. Dreh- und Angelpunkt war hierbei die Frage, ob die Abgeordneten bereit sein würden, das tradierte Geschlechterbild der bisherigen Regelung aufzugeben – oder ob es in einer neuen Regelung versteckt weiterlebt. Continue reading >>13 April 2017
Stopping forced sterilisation is not enough – the limitations of the recent ECHR judgement on trans rights
The recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France constitutes an important decision for trans rights in many ways. The ECtHR determined that France’s requirement of sterilisation, applying to persons wishing to legally change their names and gender on their birth certificate to reflect their gender identity, is a violation of the right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Continue reading >>
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