A friend of mine has a trans gf from Germany so he explained this quite nicely to me today. There are still two relatively peripheral issues. One is that surnames can’t be changed, which is a problem for anyone from a language with gender-marked surnames (e.g. Russian, Ukrainian, Czech). It’s not an acceptable situation neither with regards to gender nor to grammar (masculine name + feminine surname is just… wrong). The other is that apparently when transitioning you have to change your name, which shouldn’t be necessary for those with gender neutral names that they’d prefer to keep.
Still, it’s a big and nice step forward.
The other is that apparently when transitioning you have to change your name, which shouldn’t be necessary for those with gender neutral names that they’d prefer to keep.
I think you can keep it now if it’s gender neutral! But I still think it shouldn’t be any of their business to judge whether your name matches your gender identity, it’s pretty personal.
masculine name + feminine surname is just… wrong
I don’t quite understand what you mean.
The surname is the family name and is typically not gendered in Germany.
Edit: I seem to have completely blanked out on the preceding sentence about other origins. I can see that this might be an issue.
Right, that’s why I listed several languages where the surname is gendered, and people who are native to those languages (including their naming conventions) also live in Germany. Especially today, considering the exodus of Ukrainians.
For example, the current president of Ukraine is called Zelensky. His wife, who took up his surname, is called Zelenska. Or, there’s Putin, and his mother/sister/wife/daughter have or would have the surname Putina. The -y and “null” endings are masculine, -a is feminine.
I don’t know. You can’t really proof that other people than me exist. /s
Somewhere between 1945 and now, Germany and the US decided to slowly trade places.
and I want to trade back
Jokes aside, congrats on the progressive legislation!
Edit: No, I don’t mean I wish the US to return to 1945.🙄 I’m simply saying Germany has continued to become more socially progressive while the US has been struggling with authoritarianism.
No one switched places. The US was really racist, misogynist, and homophobic in 1945. In recent years Germany has become more liberal and accepting than the US.
