Introduction
Transgender people in Germany have been discriminated against for decades. The introduction of the so-called ‘Transsexuellen-Gesetz’ (Transsexuals Act) in 1980 allowed transgender individuals to align their first names with their gender identity. However, lengthy expert hearings were necessary for this and transgender individuals were not allowed to marry or, in case they were already married, had to file for divorce; they also had to be incapable of procreation or had to be sterilised, and had to undergo operations to adjust their body image. Some of these conditions for the official change of gender entry have since been overturned by judicial rulings, though there has been no amendment to date. The current federal government made up of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens (Greens) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has sought to change this through a new self-determination law that will enable transgender individuals to change their gender record by way of self-disclosure at registry offices (Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ), 2022; Lesben- und Schwulenverband, 2022).
This contribution aims to explain how this law is perceived by the population and which factors have an influence on its perception. The explanatory factors are based on the existing literature, according to which conservatively oriented or politically right-wing individuals take a negative stance towards trans* individuals (Prusaczyk and Hodson, 2020). Moreover, findings suggest that conventional gender-conforming attitudes lead to the rejection of trans* candidates for public office (Haider-Markel et al, 2017). One might similarly expect opposition towards a liberalisation of transgender laws. Therefore, attitudes in favour of either a modern or a traditional family image are included in the analysis. Furthermore, homophobic and transphobic attitudes are closely related (Nagoshi et al, 2008), which is why support for marriage reserved to heterosexual couples only is also used as an explanatory variable.
Data and methods
For the purpose of this analysis, I use data collected as part of the online tracking of the German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES) from 13 to 21 October 2022. The GLES tracking is based on a quota sample that attempts to match the characteristics of sex, age and education as they occur proportionally in German society. It is implemented in cooperation with the online access panel of the market research company Bilendi & respondi. In addition, the GLES tracking itself provides a weighting on the basis of representative population data to adjust for deviations in the data set, which is applied to the analysis. A total of 1,119 people were interviewed in this survey. A variety of questions were asked, including attitudes to the item ‘everyone should be able to determine their own gender and change their record at the registry office’. Respondents were able to position themselves on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). In order to measure attitudes on this item, I use a linear regression model; the explanatory variables are the respondents’ self-positioning on a scale from 1 (left) to 11 (right) and their attitudes towards a marriage exclusively reserved for heterosexuals on a scale from 1 (do not agree at all) to 5 (completely agree). Abstracted factors that depict attitudes towards either a modern or a traditional family image are included in the analysis by way of a factor analysis (see Wurthmann, 2022). The sex, age and education of the respondents serve as control variables.
Results
Figure 1 shows that the introduction of the so-called ‘self-determination law’ currently being considered by the governing parties is supported by 49.8 per cent of all respondents, whereas 26.3 per cent explicitly reject it. A further 23.9 per cent are rather indifferent on this point.
Everyone should be able to determine their own gender and change their record at the registry office
Citation: European Journal of Politics and Gender 7, 1; 10.1332/251510821X16702343170849
Note: Weighted distribution of population attitudes. n = 1,119.Source: GLES (2022).What is striking is that, save for people with Alternative for Germany (AfD) voting intentions, all electorates have, on average, neutral to positive attitudes. Above all, supporters of the Greens have the most positive attitudes. Voters of both the SPD (the largest coalition partner) and the FDP (the second coalition partner) follow at a considerable distance (see Figure 2).
Positions of German electorates on the transgender self-determination law
Citation: European Journal of Politics and Gender 7, 1; 10.1332/251510821X16702343170849
Note: Weighted distribution of the sample electorates. The dashed vertical lines describe the average positions of the electorates. n = 1,119.Source: GLES (2022).How can attitudes towards the transgender self-determination law be explained? First of all, the more right-wing an individual considers themselves on the left–right dimension, the lower their approval (p < 0.001). The same applies to attitudes towards the limitation of marriage to heterosexual couples only: the higher the approval, the lower the support for the proposed reform (p < 0.001). Second, the stronger the support for a modern family image, the clearer the support for the proposed self-determination law (p < 0.001), whereas attitudes in favour of a traditional family image have no significant influence. Finally, women (p < 0.001) are more inclined to support the proposed transgender self-determination law (see Figure 3). No multicollinearity can be found for the factors included in the analysis (VIF < 1.5).
Explaining support for the transgender self-determination law
Citation: European Journal of Politics and Gender 7, 1; 10.1332/251510821X16702343170849
Note: The graph shows the beta coefficients weighted to the data of the 2019 micro-census in a 95 per cent confidence interval. n = 939.Source: GLES (2022).Conclusion
Overall, the current social situation for transgender individuals remains precarious, which is why the self-determination law created by the SPD, the Greens and the FDP is an important milestone towards sustainably improving the living conditions of those affected in Germany. In German society, there is majority support for the bill among all electorates, save for the radical right-wing AfD. Unsurprisingly, Green Party voters are especially supportive of the law’s introduction. As already shown in other studies, objections to such a law are, above all, an expression of a basic conservative attitude, which equally seeks to reserve marriage exclusively to heterosexual couples. Conversely, being a proponent of a modern family image increases support for the proposed transgender self-determination law.
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to A. Doerr and the editors of the European Journal of Politics and Gender for their helpful comments on earlier versions of the manuscript.
Author biography
L. Constantin Wurthmann is a post-doctoral researcher at GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Germany, whose work is mainly focused on voting behaviour, political attitudes and political parties. His previous research has been published in such journals as German Politics and Party Politics.
Conflict of interest
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
References
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Haider-Markel, D., Miller, P., Flores, A., Lewis, D.C., Tadlock, B. and Taylor, J. (2017) Bringing ‘T’ to the table: understanding individual support of transgender candidates for public office, Politics, Groups and Identities, 5(3): 399–417. doi: 10.1080/21565503.2016.1272472
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Prusaczyk, E. and Hodson, G. (2020) The roles of political conservatism and binary gender beliefs in predicting prejudices toward gay men and people who are transgender, Sex Roles, 82(7–8): 438–46. doi: 10.1007/s11199-019-01069-1
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