Cross-posting from the LGBTQ+ thread on Yack Fest:
This Friday, Germany has passed a law that allows trans, inter, and non-binary people to change their official gender entry (or whatever you call that) by simply giving a statement to the administration. The new "Selbstbestimmungsgesetz" (self-determination act) replaces the old "Transsexuellengesetz" that had people jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops, get officially stamped expert's opinions from two different psychologists, and a court ruling. This will no longer be necessary in the future.
Note that this law is only concerned with what gender you are in the official paperwork, not with what you do with your body (e.g. hrt, surgery). There are different laws for that.
Source (in German): https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/selbstbestimmungsgesetz-bundestag-102.html
I have heard other things about the law, both in the originally proposed form and what was decided about in the end. Some genius thought it was a good idea to give the personal data of people changing their name and gender entry to law enforcement as a preventive measure (preventing what exactly?), because as we all know, German police and secret service are so great with the personal data of marginalized groups. Last I heard, they patched this out. But I don't have a source for that.
Additional context that I put in for the other thread, probably not that necessary here: the current federal government is a coalition of social democrats, free democrats (a.k.a. neoliberals), and greens. Parliament also has conservatives, far-right, left, and a recently-formed splinter group of the left. The next federal election is in 2025, with the possibility of a new government and parliament less favorable of a law to help queer people.
"He betrayed the Staaarks" is not the only problem here.Some genius thought it was a good idea to give the personal data of people changing their name and gender entry to law enforcement as a preventive measure (preventing what exactly?)
People changing gender or name in order to escape arrest, I guess.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanYes, that was probably the idea behind it. But how many criminals on the run - or people planning to commit a crime that will put them on the run - think about officially filing for a new gender entry? Is this number high enough to justify keeping a list of everyone using that law as a preventive measure? Does the police keep lists of people changing their name for any other reason, like marriage?
It's just very "German bureaucracy logic".
"He betrayed the Staaarks" is not the only problem here.I think that name changes are generally recorded somewhere so that if someone is wanted under their old that can be tracked to their new name.
I think there’s a point to be made that identity change records should be held as a collective without the reason for the change listed, as there’s no really a need to know why someone changed identity, just what they changed from and to.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranSomewhere as in, somewhere at the city administration that keeps birth records, marriage records and so on, yes, that's pretty normal. My sarcasm was for the idea to involve law enforcement in the process, preemptively, just because someone changes their entry. - But as I said, I don't have a source for what was decided on in the end, just heard that they dropped that part.
I think it's a good thing that we got this new law. The German government actually getting stuff done, the parliamentary process working as it should, and the law in question making life easier for people - I wish we had news like this more often.
"He betrayed the Staaarks" is not the only problem here.Over 1000 Islamists have been marching in the city of Hamburg, sadly yet again hijacking general protests against Israel
https://www.yahoo.com/news/german-interior-minister-hamburg-islamist-152904352.html?guccounter=1
Germany's first extrapolation results are in. The biggest gains have been made by the AfD and the BSW.
The former is even leading before Greens and SPD (the CDU has had a steady result, still being the strongest power).
Edited by Forenperser on Jun 9th 2024 at 6:47:27 PM
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% ScandinavianGerman populist lawmakers stage boycott of Zelenskyy speech in Berlin
It shouldn't be a surprise, but both pro-Russian political parties, the AfD and the recently formed BSW (founded by former Die Linke politician Sarah Wagenknecht and named after her) boycotted Zelenskyy's speech in the German Bundestag.
The BSW, which broke away from the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party and has been campaigning on a platform combining left-wing economic policy with some hard-right stances, also denounced Zelensky.
It's the usual victim-blaming and whinging about how Ukraine's leader isn't just bending the knee to Putin.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jun 11th 2024 at 10:00:14 AM
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyI don't know what Sarah Wagenknecht represents in-depth but knowing that she is against aid to Ukraine is enough for me to view her party badly. It would be nice if she could manage to get a lot of voters away from the AfD, so that the two parties would individually have less power and be occupied with fighting against each other though it seems like as if they primarily got voters from Die Linke.
Edited by Nehz on Jun 11th 2024 at 3:14:51 AM
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Supposedly left-wing economics combined with far-right anti-immigration and anti-trans positions as well as Russophilia.
Not like so many people in the west giving their vote to the bloody Union is that great either, considering Merz' pandering to far-right voters and the party's track record of dragging their legs on pretty much everything for 16 years (with different partners involved) and then constantly attacking the following government for doing literally anything.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jun 11th 2024 at 6:43:10 PM
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyI wouldn't read too much into that map, personally. The CDU got exactly as many seats as before.
What I'd like to know is what the Greens did wrong; they got shellacked worse than DL did, which personally tells me that BSW was stealing from Green, not DL (who were already a dying party to begin with).
Being successfully blamed for any real or perceived failure of the government by both the right-wing opposition and our right-wing gutter press will do that to you.
There's a reason this clip
has become kind of a meme in German online spaces, as it perfectly encapsulates how the German right has turned the Greens into a boogeyman responsible for everything wrong with the country (any connections to factual reality are completely optional, of course).
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jun 11th 2024 at 8:57:55 PM
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyAnd also not helping are the tabloid's fearmongering campaigns which often blatantly misinterpret new laws for maximum outrage bait:
Headline: NEW LAW by DIE GRÜÜÜÜNEN! ALL homeowners will be forced to install heat pumps in 2024. YOU will have to pay 30.000€ all by yourself! Here are 10 things you can do to appeal this.
Reality:
Buildings built after 2024 are now required to have heating from 65% renewable sources (though Hybrids using partial Oil/Gas are also permitted). Existing heating systems that are still working or repairable are NOT affected. You can get up to 70% subsidized by the state.
And the result is that we're likely gonna be stuck with another bloody Union-led government after the next federal election, which is just great.
Why even try to improve anything if we can just drag our feet and stagnate for another 16 years?
Axel Springer has a lot to answer for.
Edited by DrunkenNordmann on Jun 12th 2024 at 9:34:42 PM
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyThe press in general seem to have decided that being the fourth estate shouldn’t mean being the guardians of truth and the holders of others to account, it should mean fighting their corner for their power over the people and the nation’s resources.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranNitpick: Sahra Wagenknecht, with the h after the first a. I myself have been guilty of misspelling her name in this thread, but we shouldn't do it intentionally just because we dislike her politics. That's petty.
(Speaking as someone with a first name that has at minimum five different variants that are all correct somewhere and a last name that often gets misheard as a completely different name.)
I'm still not over the fact that they actually called their party Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht. It seems so... not even really anachronistic. Non-descriptive and self-centered? Who names a political party after themself, and what type of political party names itself after a still-living, still politically active person? Who does that, Ulfric Sturmmantel? There were Marxists at the time of Karl Marx, but to my understanding, that wasn't really an organized political movement, more a name for an intellectual school of thought.
"He betrayed the Staaarks" is not the only problem here.
Somebody who's really self-centered. It's not the first time we had a personalist party like that in German politics either, but it's probably the first time such a party didn't just completely flounder.
And that's mainly due to Wagenknecht's constant self-promotion - she barely ever spends any time in parliament, but she loves showing up in talk shows.
And because a lot of people apparently get all their information from talk shows....
We learn from history that we do not learn from historyAn Ukranian Suspect for the Nordstream detonation is on the run, a warrant has been given out for his arrest by Germany
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian3 have been killed and 5 severely injured in a knife attack at a local fair in Solingen
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-several-killed-in-stabbing-at-solingen-street-party/a-70037172
The suspect is on the run
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian

I mean, I guess there are differing opinion on what "Far-Left" means? I for one don't see being a Socialist by itself as Far-Left.
"Far-Left", just like "Far-Right", means extremism and anti-democratic tendencies for me, not simply being on the left side of the spectrum.
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian