LGBT News Germany To Allow Third Gender Option On Birth Certificates

Gold Griffin · Nov 2, 2013

Germany will now allow babies born with both sex traits to be designated as neither male nor female.

The Telegraph reports that German parents will be allowed to leave the gender blank on birth certificates, which will create a "third sex" option. Later, the children will be allowed to chose an X option on their passport instead of the typical M or F.

The legislation, which went into effect on Friday Nov. 1, was enacted in order to give parents and children more time before making life-changing sex reassignment decisions. Germany is the first European nation to offer the third gender designation.

The Intersex Society of North America reports that as many as 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 2,000 babies worldwide are born intersex, meaning they have parts of both sex's genitalia.

Intersex, which was formerly known as hermaphroditism, includes many conditions where external and internal genitals do not match the same sex.

This includes "XX intersex," or people born with female XX chromosomes and ovaries, but have external genitals that look like male. Others are people with male XY chromosomes with internal fully formed or partial testes, but have external female-like genitals, called "XY intersex." People characterized as "true gonadal intersex" have both ovarian and testicular tissue, as well as male, female or indeterminate external genitals. There are also some individuals with undetermined intersex disorders, that have no discrepancy between their internal and external genitalia, but they may have chromosomes that are different configurations besides the typical 46 pairs of XX or XY.

Dr. Hertha Richter-Appelt, a sexual scientist at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany explained to Der Spiegel that forcing a certain gender on a baby may create issues that for that child later on in life. While many people who have sex reassignment surgery as an infant are okay with the decision, some intersex people may not agree with the sex their parents chose for them. Richter-Appelt said it's best to wait until the child hits puberty before considering sexual reassignment treatments and surgery.

"When the issue is definitively deciding what is truly better for the children, we have to be honest and say that we often don't know," Richter-Appelt said.

Silvan Agius of IGLA-Europe, a human rights group focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex issues, told the BBC that more needs to be done than the passage of this law.

"While on the one hand it has provided a lot of visibility about intersex issues... it does not address the surgeries and the medicalization of intersex people and that's not good -- that has to change," he said.

Lucie Veith, an intersex person from the northern German city of Hamburg, explained to the AFP that the legislation was a good first step, but that it skirted the main issue that Association of Intersexed People in Germany were lobbying for.

"That we forbid cosmetic genital surgeries for newborns, that is our first demand," Veith, who heads the organization, explained.

Other countries like Australia and New Zealand already allow X sex designations on passports, and Bangladesh allows an "other" gender category on the document, the BBC reported. Nepal has a third gender designation on their census forms, and Pakistan lets people to use a third option on national identity cards. India also has a third gender designation on their voting forms.

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Germany to allow third gender designation on birth certificates - CBS News

A great advancement in the field of rights for intersex infants. Hopefully this will start a movement that will culminate in the outlawing of cosmetic genital surgeries for newborns like the AIP is advocating for.

justjade · Nov 3, 2013

I wish I would have been born with a X on my birth certificate! :tantrum:

But in all seriousness, that's pretty awesome.

Ruthven · Nov 3, 2013

Later, the children will be allowed to chose an X option on their passport instead of the typical M or F.
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But will they also have the choice of M or F? Cause that instead seems to suggest otherwise...

I think it'd be great if all babies everywhere weren't assigned a gender.

Mirko · Nov 3, 2013

Ruthven said: ↑

Later, the children will be allowed to chose an X option on their passport instead of the typical M or F.
Click to expand...

But will they also have the choice of M or F? Cause that instead seems to suggest otherwise...

I think it'd be great if all babies everywhere weren't assigned a gender.
Click to expand...

My reading of the new legislation is that there is still the choice between M or F. X is an additional option for those who identify as intersex.

It's great to see that Germany has taken the lead on it.

Hexagon · Nov 4, 2013

IMO, they should stop making a legal distinction between genders. It serves no purpose other than making discrimination possible. You know, is it bad to simply not put gender on a birth certificate?

(Note: I am not arguing to eliminate the concept of gender, just for the government to get their asses out of it.)

confuzzled82 · Nov 4, 2013

Hex: I'm not certain if completely removing it would be that good in general. These numbers are compiled togeather for many reasons. Another thing that is sometimes on there that you could claim just makes discrimination possible is race. Either of these can be very useful for various things. A birth certificate actually is part of a person's health records, except that it is used for more things, and is stored by the government instead of just your doctor. There does need to be more information than just a name, a date, and a place so that there can be some verification it is actually you. Unfortunately, sex is generally one of the few things that doesn't change from infancy to adulthood. This is actually why some will list race as well. And, at least in MI, there are more options than just M or F, although they are not used very often. They are generally reserved for those born with some intersex condition.

Emulator · Nov 4, 2013

That sounds great. I hope a 'third gender' option will be recognised worldwide, instead of just going back to the usual M or F. Makes things so much easier.

LILuke · Nov 4, 2013

This is fantastic! Go Germany!

LGBT News Germany To Allow Third Gender Option On Birth Certificates

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