The Conference of Ministers of Justice in Germany met in Hamburg on Friday and, at the request of the CDU-led states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, decided to weaken the Self-Determination Act under the pretext of addressing “obvious cases of abuse.” The state justice ministers urged the federal government to present a legislative proposal reflecting the change.
Although cases of alleged abuse remain sporadic, one case has drawn particular attention: the government-facilitated transition of the convicted queerphobic neonazi known as Sven, also referred to as Marla Svenja Liebich. The district of Saalekreis in Saxony-Anhalt is currently seeking to reverse Liebich’s gender entry from “male” to “female.” The authority bases its move on a provision in the Civil Status Act that allows corrections of erroneous or incomplete entries in the civil status registry. The case is currently before the Halle District Court (TheColu.mn reported).
LSVD+: “This undermines the purpose of self-determination”
The national umbrella organization for queer groups, LSVD+, warns that the law’s integrity could be eroded: “Those who now demand new review mechanisms place a particularly vulnerable group under general suspicion,” said LSVD+-board member Julia Monro. Trans*, intersex, and non-binary people have spent years waiting for the end of “humiliating assessments.” “Civil registries or other authorities must not become gatekeepers of gender identity. This runs counter to the spirit of self-determination, and to the evidence that gender identity cannot be determined by objective criteria,” Monro argued. “We urgently urge preserving the spirit of democratic responsibility and explicitly warn against using provocations by far-right actors to challenge the self-determination of an entire group.”
The coalition agreement already provides for an evaluation of the Self-Determination Act by July 31 of this year. LSVD+ is calling on the government to handle the law “evidence-based” and not yield to political pressure. Monro also noted that the judiciary can respond to instances like the Liebich case without restricting the right to self-determination: “Existing rules on imprisonment and protective orders apply regardless of changes to the gender entry and have proven effective in individual cases.”
The Saxon Minister of Justice, Constanze Geiert (CDU), claimed, by contrast, that restricting the Self-Determination Act would boost its acceptance and would only combat “obvious abuse.” Beate Meißner, Thuringia’s Minister of Justice (CDU), spoke of a “gaps in abuse” within the Self-Determination Act.
The Self-Determination Act, passed by the traffic-light coalition, went into effect in November 2024—despite fierce opposition from the Union and the AfD. It makes it easier for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people to change their gender entry and given name through a simple declaration at the civil registry office. This replaces court orders and costly psychiatric assessments under the former Transsexual Act. In practice, many trans people found themselves answering intimate questions about childhood, masturbation, sexual practices, or preferences about underwear to court-appointed experts. Numerous witnesses reported a lack of sensitivity and, in some cases, overt transphobia and invasive conduct by those experts.
