Scholz coalition makes it easier for 14 year-olds to change gender

LAWMAKERS in Germany have approved a law that will allow children as young as 14 to change their gender at a register office without any medical evaluation.

The self-determination law is one of several social reforms that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s liberal-leaning coalition government pledged when it took office in late 2021, is set to take effect on Nov 1.

Germany follows several other countries in making the change. Parliament’s lower house, the Bundestag, approved it by 374 votes to 251 with 11 abstentions.

The legislation will allow adults to change their first name and legal gender at register offices without further formalities.

They will have to notify the office three months before making the change. The rules will allow minors ‘We respect trans and intersex people, without taking anything away from others’ aged 14 and older to change their name and legal gender with approval from their parents or guardians; if they don’t agree, teenagers could ask a family court to overrule them. In the case of children younger than 14, parents or guardians would have to make register office applications on their behalf.

Mr Scholz said on social media: “We show respect to trans, intersex and non-binary people – without taking anything away from others. This is how we continue to drive the modernisation of our country. This includes recognising realities of life and making them possible by law.”

“For over 40 years, the ‘transsexual law’ has caused a lot of suffering ... and only because people want to be recognised as they are,” Sven Lehmann, the government’s commissioner for LGBT issues, told lawmakers. “And today we are finally putting an end to this.”