Gender identity changes decline in Hamburg following new law

From the implementation of the Self-Determination Act on November 1, 2024, to the end of September this year, 1,258 applications were submitted to registry offices, according to the Harburg district office.

Previously, the Senate reported that 914 declarations had already been registered by September 30 of last year.

This means that only 344 additional declarations were registered in the subsequent twelve months.

In the first eleven months following the law’s implementation, the Altona district saw the most declarations with 240, while Bergedorf had the fewest with 72.

In the following twelve months, Eimsbüttel led with 121 changes, and Bergedorf again registered the fewest with 17.

The Mitte district experienced the most significant decrease, with the number falling from 114 to 19.

The Self-Determination Act allows individuals to change their gender identity and first name simply by submitting a declaration to the registry.

This declaration must be registered at least three months in advance.

For the gender identity change to be legally effective, the registry office of the place of birth must perform the change.

A court decision is no longer required.

Justice ministers are now calling for measures to prevent abuse. The black-red coalition agreement stipulated that the regulations should be reviewed by July 2026.

Last June, the Justice Ministers’ Conference called for tightening the Self-Determination Act.

A motion from Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, demanding measures against the abusive change of gender identity, gained a majority at the spring conference of the Justice Ministers in Hamburg.

The Federal Ministry of Justice is now being asked to immediately submit a draft law that establishes a review mechanism for cases of obvious abuse.

The review should be carried out by the registry offices when a gender identity change is made.