A trans-identified member of Germany’s Parliament is calling for parents who do not comply with their child’s “gender transition” to be prosecuted and imprisoned. Markus “Tessa” Ganserer, who represents the Green Party as a “woman,” recently addressed the queer community and also promised that broadly-defined “conversion treatments” would be completely banned.
Contrary to all warnings from therapists, the German federal government passed a law banning conversion therapy in 2020 and included within the legislation the concept of “gender identity.”
“This law applies to all treatments performed on humans that are aimed at changing or suppressing sexual orientation or self-perceived gender identity.” Violation is punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine.
Parents have so far been exempt from being prosecuted under this law, provided they do not grossly violate their duty of care, but trans activists are pressuring the government to remove the exception for parents so that they can be punished if they try to protect their child from social or medical “transitioning,” which can involve the prescription of puberty-halting drugs or surgery.
As early as 2020, “It was de facto written into the law that all therapists now have to treat ‘transaffirmatively,’” explains child and adolescent psychiatrist Alexander Korte at Emma Magazine. He is also aware of many child and adolescent therapists who have already withdrawn from the field, as they are frightened of being charged with, and prosecuted for, conversion therapy should they not affirm the self-perceived gender identity of a young patient.
Germany also recently passed one of the world’s most far-reaching Self-Determination Acts (SBGG), which comes into effect in November. The law, which was met by overwhelming backlash by women’s rights campaigners, established “gender identity” as a protected characteristic and allows parents to change the sex marker on their children’s documents from birth. The SBGG also creates the potential for citizens to be fined up to €10,000 (approx. $10,800 USD) for revealing a person’s given name and birth sex without their permission – an action that trans activists staunchly oppose and refer to as ‘deadnaming.’
But Ganserer, who fathered two children before claiming to be a “woman,” had expressed strong criticisms of the SBGG, claiming it does not go far enough to punish those accused of “transphobia.”
Ganserer has also said that he is not satisfied with a section of the bill which requires parents to consent to changing the legal sex of their children on identification documents. In his opinion, children should be permitted to alter their legal sex beginning from the age of 14, without parental consent.
Ganserer is known for his controversial public persona, and routinely prompts outrage from his critics for his exhibitionistic behavior. He has been slammed for his choice of dress when speaking in the German Bundestag, where has has worn a black transparent lace “negligee.” He has also been photographed naked in a women’s sauna while wearing a wig, and has claimed that a penis is not a male sexual organ.
While campaigning for a position in the Bundestag as a member of the Green Party, Ganserer told Buzzfeed that he stole his wife’s clothes and felt “like a child” discovering himself in the mirror for the first time before he started claiming a trans identity. When Ganserer, whose birth name is Markus, was ultimately elected to Germany’s parliament in September of 2021, he took a seat that was reserved for female political representation.
Ganserer’s latest push to have parents prosecuted for not “validating” their child’s gender identity refers to a 2021 informal agreement by the German federal government to remove the prosecution exemption for parents. Because the nation holds its elections next year, trans activists have been putting pressure on the government to enshrine the agreement into law.
As a result, several “queer” political organizations have submitted a demand paper to the government citing an online survey that claims parents are responsible for the majority of “conversion treatments.” The survey, which is being withheld from public release, classified a broad array of behavior as attempts of “conversion therapy,” including recommendations from parents that their children take part in male or female-coded activities.
Feminist and women’s rights activist Rona Duwe has requested the complete online survey with questionnaires, study settings, participants, evaluation methodology, figures and data from the Federal Center for Health Education within the framework of the Freedom of Information Act. However, it has been protected from publication, with the authors citing copyright and first publication rights.
Despite questions surrounding the survey’s validity, politicians such as Mr. Jürgen Lenders of the FDP are already calling for current laws to be changed as a result. Lenders has suggested “reporting points” be established where children can file complaints against their own parents or demand the non-profit status of charities be removed if one does not validate their gender identity.
Of the organizations that have endorsed the so-called demand paper is the Federal Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation. Helmut Metzner, the foundation’s Managing Director, referred to the online survey as proof that parents must be held legally responsible for not validating their child’s chosen gender identity.
“The current studies clearly show that conversion treatments continue to represent a relevant problem in Germany. The federal Government must keep its promise (…) before the next federal election. (…) Conversion treatments are harmful and should be banned from society once and for all,” Metzner said.
Another co-signatory is state-funded youth project Lambda, which, as previously revealed by Reduxx, promotes “age play,” diaper fetishism and BDSM in a publication co-designed by minors.
