Supporting transgenders against hate speech

Theresa Zettl

Last week there an incredible scandal took place in the German Bundestag caused by the AfD parliamentary group leader Beatrix von Storch: She had claimed that the Green politician and transwoman Tessa Ganserer was “biologically and legally a man”. The scandal caused by the right wing populists of AfD had a widespread media coverage in Germany.

In a debate on International Women’s Day on March 8 in the Bundestag, von Storch accused the majority of MPs (“almost all of them here”) of adhering to a supposed gender ideology. “They claim that gender has nothing to do with biology. And everyone can somehow determine their own gender.” Von Storch then said, “If colleague Markus Ganserer wears skirt, lipstick, heels, that’s perfectly fine.” Von Storch emphasized, it is “his” private matter. “Biologically and legally, he is and remains a man.” And if he can enter the Bundestag as such via the Green women’s quota and is listed here as a woman, then that is simply unlawful, right wing politician von Storch claims.

Tessa Ganserer from Nuremberg is one of two transwomen in the new Bundestag and previously sat in the Bavarian state parliament. Ganserer came out as transgender in November 2018. Trans people are people who do not feel they belong to the gender they were assigned at birth. On the ballot for the Bundestag election, Ganserer was listed with her “dead name” the male first name, which she had discarded. Like many other people in her situation, she refuses to have her first name and gender officially changed under the Transsexuals Act. The 40-year-old law stipulates that those affected may only do so after a psychological assessment and a court decision – in which they often have to put up with very intimate questions.

Was this a one-off case?
No, it is not, as the following statement of Transgender Europe e.V. shows:

“This year’s Trans Rights Map documents an alarming loss in rights when compared to 2020. While progressive countries in Europe and Central Asia have slowed down in increasing protections for trans people, moderate countries have often stalled progress altogether. Worse yet, a growing number of countries have been aggressively removing rights from trans people.

On the positive side, eight European States now allow a person to adapt key documents based on self-determination, with procedures that are human rights compliant. Still, recognition for non-binary people is only possible in two States: Iceland and Malta. Considering that the Fundamental Rights Agency found that 62% of trans respondents to the LGBTI II Survey (2019) did not identify exclusively as one gender, the absence of non-binary recognition fails the majority of the trans community.

Ten States still require a person to be sterilised in order to have their gender legally recognised. Amongst those, five are EU member States: Czech Republic, Finland, Latvia, Romania, and Slovakia. Alarmingly, two countries have actively removed (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) or even banned legal gender recognition (Hungary). For more information, read TGEU’s media statement.“

Why is tolerance so hard to practice in our society?

Why can’t we all just live in a world free from discrimination where gender diversity is celebrated, where trans people are valued as much as heterosexuals? Why do we judge people, we do not know for their way of living? Why does society think they can tell a person how they are supposed to live? Does the existence of transgender persons harm you in any way? I don’t think so. I hope for every person to come out as lesbian, gay or transgender that there will be a day, when they will be accepted in society for the person they decide to be. For their personality, for their achievements in life and not being mistreated and harassed for their gender or sexual preference.

Author Profile

Theresa Zettl

Co-Founder of European Liberals for Reform
Chairperson of ELfR Working Group Health
ALDE Individual Members Steering Committee Member (2022-2023)

Social Media & Digital Marketing Expert, Blogger
Favorite Topics: Health, Society, LGBTQI