German parliament approves 3rd gender identity for records

BERLIN – The German parliament has approved a third gender option for official records that will allow people to be registered as “diverse.”

Lawmakers approved the change late Thursday. The government had to act after Germany’s highest court ruled last year that people must be allowed to register as neither male nor female, ordering authorities to create a third identity or scrap gender entries altogether.

That followed a case in which a plaintiff had sought unsuccessfully to have their entry in the birth register changed from “female” to “inter/diverse” or “diverse.” Until now, the only other option was to leave the gender blank.

Advocacy groups and some opposition politicians argue the resulting legislation doesn’t go far enough. In most cases, it requires people to produce a doctor’s certificate to change their status.