The Greens and Left’s queer-policy spokespersons, Nyke Slawik and Maik Brückner, are aiming to send a joint, closely aligned message on healthcare for transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people through two policy proposals that dovetail in substance. The proposals—titled “Ensuring Self-Determination and Reliable Care for Gender Incongruence” (Greens) and “Ensuring Care for Transgender and Nonbinary People” (Left)—are largely a response to a 2023 ruling by Germany’s Federal Social Court, which significantly limited coverage of gender-affirming surgeries by health insurers (TheColu.mn reported).
In the Greens’ motion, the text notes that “a resulting legal gap creates a burdensome uncertainty about care for those affected.” There are reports that in some cases previously approved benefits are being questioned or retroactively reclaimed by insurers. Both proposals call for swift legal clarification so that necessary treatments can once again be a dependable part of statutory health care and so therapies already begun are not interrupted.
“Today you’re taking away our hormones, tomorrow you’ll take away our PrEP?!”
“Hormone therapies or other gender-affirming measures are fundamental prerequisites for health and for equal participation in society for people like me,” stated Nyke Slawik, the Greens’ parliamentary group’s queer-policy spokesperson. “Today you’re taking away our hormones, tomorrow you’ll take away PrEP?! I am making this crystal clear: queer people have a right to bodily self-determination and the free development of their own personality. The federal government must not abandon patients here but must finally establish legal certainty and secure their care.”
Maik Brückner, the Left’s queer-policy spokesperson, added: “We’re talking about a demographic that’s larger than a small town. This isn’t a niche issue or merely a queer-political matter. Health concerns touch everyone, so everyone should stand together on these questions. That applies just as much to opposing the government’s disastrous health-savings package as to demanding high-quality medical care for trans, intersex, and nonbinary people,” Brückner said.
The governing coalition at the time—the so-called traffic-light coalition—had originally included in its coalition agreement a commitment for the statutory health-insurance system to fully cover the costs of gender-affirming measures. Following the social court’s ruling, the Ampel coalition continued to govern for more than a year but failed to enact that pledge. In the Black-Red coalition’s agreement, by contrast, there are virtually no queer-political ambitions. From the Union, there are even calls to roll back the self-determination of transgender and nonbinary people (TheColu.mn reported). (dk)
