English

On questionnaires I often can’t get past the second question.
I have to decide: “Woman” or “man”.
And as so often, I feel left out.
Overlooked.

Dritte Option (Third Option) is an advocacy group in Germany that has accompanied court proceedings for the introduction of a third gender option in German passports, birth certificates and other legal documents. We want this option to be open for all, and its selection to be exclusively based on the decision of each individual.

At the same time as the judicial proceedings we are running a political campaign to gain support for our case, and to raise awareness of the situation of intersex people in Germany and the repressive character of gender binarism. We want to create space and visibility for all genders that do not fit into ‘male’ or ‘female’.

In July, 2014 the request for modification of a person’s birth certificate to ‘inter/divers’ – X had been submitted to the registry office in Gehrden, Germany. The request was forwarded to the district court in Hanover where it was rejected. Supported by the advocacy group Dritte Option, the claimant submitted a complaint to the district court of second instance in Celle that rejected it. In February 2015, they took the appeal to the next higher level, namely the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), the highest appellate court in Germany for civil and criminal cases. The Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeal on June 22nd, 2016. On September 2nd, 2016, the complaint against this ruling was committed to the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht). As communicated on November 8th, 2017, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled the existing regulation on binary gender options in the birth registry – as stated in the German Civil Status Act (Personenstandsgesetz – PStG) – to be unconstitutional. It instructed the legislature to pass a law either introducing a third gender option in official documents or abolishing gender registration altogether before December 31st, 2018. The complainant, the advocacy group as well as various other intersex and trans organizations and individuals, other associations and politicians have welcomed the ground-breaking decision of the Federal Constitutional Court.
You can find our press release in English on this historic decision here.

We are very much interested in discussing, networking and cooperating with other campaigns and interest groups as well as interested individuals in Germany and internationally.

Please contact us at info@dritte-option.de.