The country plans to allow gender self-ID at 14
Germany’s plans to allow children as young as 14 to change their legal gender should ring alarm bells across Europe. The proposed self-identification reform abandons any need for medical evidence or assessment, while parental consent was only added during the drafting of the bill.
If biological sex is an important characteristic to record and protect — and I think it is — then children will be left vulnerable. Those drafting the bill might have convinced themselves that they were de-medicalising the process, but instead they are replacing fact with fantasy.
Even the language is disingenuous. Lisa Paus, the German minister for family affairs announced “a straightforward official process for everyone whose officially registered gender doesn’t correspond to their gender identity”. Whatever happened to the word sex? And what is gender identity, anyway? If I don’t even need a gender identity to explain my own transsexualism, why should it be enshrined in law? Legislation might create legal fictions, but magical thinking can never supplant reality.
Meanwhile anyone who tries to point out historical truths may find themselves on the wrong side of the law. Referring to a trans person’s birth name – “deadnaming” – will be criminalised. Paus talked about living in “a liberal and diverse society”, but these plans sound distinctly authoritarian.
This matters for children because behind the sparkles and rainbows, transsexualism is a medical process involving powerful drugs and mutilating surgeries. But it’s surely much harder for doctors to first do no harm, and refer a child for psychotherapy when their legal papers indicate that they are the opposite sex already.
Even if children are convinced today, heartfelt testimony from de-transitioners suggests that they might not always feel that way. My view is clear: children must not be allowed to make uninformed and potentially catastrophic decisions before they grow up. Only then can they understand what it means to be an adult.
It matters for Europe because there is an ongoing concerted attempt to change society, and not in a good way. The November 2019 report co-written by law firm Dentons and the Thomson Reuters Foundation, Only adults? Good practices in legal gender recognition for youth, set out the tactics. A key focus was children and the weakening of parental rights. On extending gender recognition to children, the authors were unapologetic: ‘It is recognised that the requirement for parental consent or the consent of a legal guardian can be restrictive and problematic for minors.’
By branding these methods ‘good practice’, the unwary can be fooled into believing that it is a good thing to tell children that they can change their legal sex. And the more countries that give in to it, the harder it is for others to hold out against what becomes so-called international best practice. But for the sake of children, we mustn’t let this happen.
Debbie Hayton
* This article was first published by Unherd on 8 August 2022: Germany succumbs to trans ideology.
Debbie Hayton 
2 replies on “Germany succumbs to trans ideology”
This will destabilise kids more than it will help them. Even when we push and shove against boundaries, we still need certain ‘anchors’ in life to know we’re safe in doing so. This law will only serve to untether kids from knowing that there are certain things they can always rely on.
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As Katrina says, this will destabilize kids, and at a time when kids have so much else to stress about! We have failed them in so many ways, and now this ignorant source of confusion, it’s tragic. If the trans activists were just happy to invent a bunch of new genders in addition to and distinct from the legal biological sex, it wouldn’t be quite as bad, but they conflate the two terms. They call it “gender”, but it is the legal sex that will be redefined.
The plans include the ridiculous safeguard of not allowing another change for a year, to make sure the person is serious about it. One minute it’s about freedom, the next restricting the frequency of choice to an arbitrary time. Why? Why can’t I be a puppy on Tuesdays and a unicorn on Wednesdays and a marsh mallow every third Saturday?
Anyway, a German youth could change legal “gender” every year, and nobody could mention it without their permission. Apparently freedom doesn’t include being able to make factual statements without someone else’s say-so.
Keep up the good work, Debbie!
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