Subversion Subverted: Developments in German Civil Status Law on the Recognition of Intersex and Non-Binary Persons

Abstract

Across the globe, claims for legal gender recognition of intersex and non-binary persons are increasingly being made. Such claims and the political and legal responses to them raise a multitude of questions: What are the rationales of expanding the available gender markers? Who are they open to and under which circumstances can they be made use of? How does increasing legal gender recognition for intersex and non-binary persons relate to a transformative queer politics more generally? This chapter reflects on these issues by considering changes in German civil status law over the last few years, including an analysis of the German Federal Constitutional Court’s judgment of 10 October 2017 and the legislative responses to it.

Keywords: legal gender recognition, gender binary, intersex, transgender, intersex rights, trans rights, non-binary, Dritte Option, Germany, Federal Constitutional Court, judgment of 10 October 2017