Der Spiegel: Third gender option in Germany a small step for intersex recognition

Spiegel Online
This opinion piece on birth certificates was published overnight in Der Spiegel on 22 August. It’s a collaboration between Silvan Agius of ILGA Europe, Morgan Carpenter (OII Australia) and Dan Ghattas (OII Germany):

…no reporter has yet asked how this will effectively improve quality of life for intersex people, particularly when cosmetic genital surgeries on infants are set to continue.

In short, while there may be some limited benefits from the new German law, real progress for intersex people is not measured through the number of available labels but through an end to the human rights breaches currently being inflicted.

No German intersex organisation supports the creation of a mandatory third sex, defined by biological characteristics.

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