Germany’s highest court has ruled that the country must provide a third gender option beside male or female in the nation’s birth register — or dispense entirely with information on gender in civil status.
“The assignment of gender is of paramount importance for individual identity; it usually plays a key role both for a person’s self-conception and for the way this person is perceived by others,” the Federal Constitutional Court said in its announcement. “The gender identity of persons who can be assigned neither male nor female gender is also protected under this right.”
The decision concerned a case brought by a plaintiff named only as Vanja, according to The Associated Press. The plaintiff was born in 1989 and wanted to change their entry in the birth register from “female” to “inter/diverse” or simply “diverse.” Vanja’s request was rejected by the registry office.
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