First trans woman elected to German parliament: “Indication that Germany is open and tolerant”

A trans woman appears to have been elected in Germany to seat in the Bundestag in Berlin, a first for the country. Greens candidate Tessa Ganserer, who has been in Bavaria’s regional parliament since 2013, is likely to represent her party in the national parliament. She received 22.6 percent of the vote.

German voters cast two votes yesterday, one for a candidate in their constituency and one for the party of their choice. Ganserer, 44, told a local broadcaster in Bavaria that she achieved “a super result”. She sees that result as an indication that Germany is an open and tolerant country.

In 2018, the politician was the first German MP to come out as transgender. Like many trans men and women in the country, she refuses to officially change her first name and gender under the transgender law.

That 40-year-old law states that people can only do this after a psychological assessment and a court decision. Her identity card still bears her former male first name. She was also on the ballot under that name.

So far, only one trans woman has served in the Bundestag, but she only came out after her term in office.