Ethics Council calls for introduction of the third gender

Third sex for intersexuals required by German Ethics Council

23.02.2012

Dealing with intersexuality, that is people who have gender characteristics of men and women, is a difficult topic not only for those affected but also for society. Now, the German Ethics Council has issued a statement for the introduction of a „third sex“ pronounced.

Interested persons should be given the opportunity to register in the register of civil status „next to the entry as Female or male“ also the sex „other“ to vote, explained the German Ethics Council. For example, intersex people would no longer be forced to commit themselves to a particular gender. In the view of the panel of experts, the previous treatment of those affected is ethically unacceptable. Especially since numerous intersex in the past considerable „Pain“ and „personal suffering“ was inflicted as physicians attempted to achieve a clear gender identification through surgery and hormonal treatments.

Ethics Council Opinion on Intersexuality
On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Health and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Ethics Council has developed recommendations for dealing with the topic of intersexuality. The panel of experts explicitly addressed people who had sex organs of men and women from birth. Transsexuals who have changed their gender through artificial surgery or people who suffer from the feeling of being in the wrong body despite clear biological sex characteristics were not part of the workgroup. The Ethics Council defined in its definition of intersexuality that these are people who are themselves „due to physical characteristics can not be clearly classified as male or female.“ Therefore, those concerned should no longer be required to be bound by a particular gender, but the possibility should exist in the relevant documents as sex „other“ specify.

People with gender characteristics of man and woman
This newly introduced gender status should reflect the fact that in some people, gender characteristics of men and women develop. Thus, some people, despite male chromosome set no testicles, but rather female-looking genitals. Also, there are sometimes signs of ovaries and testicles at the same time. The most common form of intersexuality is Adrenogenital Syndrome (AGS), which, according to the Ethics Council, is estimated to affect one in 10,000 births. Those affected have a female chromosome set, have fully functional female genitalia (thus are also capable of reproduction), but at the same time show sexual characteristics of men. Also, the clitoris can develop with them to the size of a penis. According to the experts of the Ethics Council, the number of those actually affected in Germany is so far unclear. In the context of the current processing of the topic, 199 intersex people took part in a survey and also some hundreds were involved in the previous study, according to the Ethics Council in its statement.

Public discussion about intersex gold medal winner
So far, however, the public has only been marginally aware of the issue of intersexuality and the problems of those affected. Only when the South African Caster Semenya won the women's 800m medal at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, and then the discussion about the runner's gender flared up, was intersexuality in the public interest in the short term. Caster Semenya had to undergo a gender test because of doubts after her victory, but the results were kept secret to safeguard the personal rights of the gold medalist. Quickly it was clear, Caster Semenya, is both a woman and a man. But after some time of media exploitation, the topic was forgotten again.

Rethinking when dealing with the topic of intersexuality required
Now, however, the opinion of the Ethics Council brings the phenomenon of intersexuality back into the public eye. The demand for one „third gender“ makes a splash. The main thing is to enable those affected to lead a self-determined life without being put in a drawer by official channels, which they do not fit into. That a rethinking is urgently needed, as shown by the heavy fates experienced by intersex, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. According to the Ethics Council, many of them were badly damaged by surgery as doctors tried to reach a clear sexual orientation for adulthood.

Intersexuals used to often be victims of medical assault
In support of the sometimes unbelievable events, the Ethics Council has appended two anonymized reports of intersex people in which its respondents describe the physical and emotional suffering inflicted on them. Thus, one person received hormone treatments from childhood, and their sex was strictly limited to female genital organs, resulting in decades of suffering. In the other report, the person concerned described that at the age of two and a half years, she was removed without medical necessity, the unclear testicles. This „Castration was done without the consent of my parents and should be concealed from them as a result“, so the statement in the report. Incredibly, the doctor such interventions on their own - without consultation with the parents - decide. In the sixties and seventies, the mentality of doctors and psychiatrists was even more strongly influenced by the idea that the sex of a person could be influenced by society. In other words, if nature does not make a clear statement, the doctors with their surgical and hormonal intervention options take over this job. The fact that those affected by this act of physical injury were sometimes irreversibly impaired in their sexuality, was often forgotten in the course of the feasibility craze of the medical profession and psychiatrist.

Right to self-determination
So have many intersex people „Pain, personal suffering, complications and permanent restrictions on their quality of life suffered“, explains the Ethics Council in its opinion. The expert panel therefore called for state support for those affected. „A fund should be set up to give recognition and help to those affected“, explained the Ethics Council. In addition, in the view of the Ethics Council, the criminal and civil limitation period for such injuries should be extended. Generally speaking „irreversible medical measures for sex assignment“ in childhood only in a few exceptional cases justifiable. For persons who do not belong biologically to either gender have the right to self-determination. One of the exceptions, according to the Ethics Council, for example, is the phenomenon of AGS. For here the sex is biologically clear and only not clearly pronounced. A „Approximation of genitals to gender“ could therefore be quite useful, however „only after comprehensive consideration of the medical, psychological and psychosocial advantages and disadvantages.“ For example, according to the Ethics Council opinion, not all medical interventions on childhood intersexuality should be rejected.

Marriage or civil partnership for intersex people?
The right to self-determination must, as far as possible, be respected in the opinion of the Ethics Council. Accordingly, the affected should be able to make their own decision from puberty. The opinion of the Ethics Council therefore provides for a right to sexual self-determination of intersex people from the age of twelve years. Analogous to the religious maturity, those affected from this age should have a say in questions of their gender assignment, demanded the German Ethics Council. Here, however, the respective intellectual development of the affected person should also be considered. The 26 experts of the Ethics Council agreed on most points of their opinion, but on the question of dealing with marriages and civil partnerships, which provide a gender-clear definition by the state, two opinions were presented. Actually, a marriage can only be concluded between a man and a woman, a life partnership between a woman and a woman or a man and a man. A minority of ethics council members pleaded for this, including the partnership between a person and gender „other“ and to allow a woman or a man as a marriage. The majority of ethics council members, however, spoke out in favor „People with the gender entry other to allow the registered civil partnership“ - no marriage.

More tolerance of society required
Regardless of the status under which their future partnerships will take place, however, much has already been gained for those affected if they are not forcibly assigned to the female or male gender and if they can in future determine their sexual identity themselves. The public discussion also raises the awareness of the parents of those affected and the attending physicians with regard to the issue of intersexuality, so that in the future, intersexuals may be spared serious medical interventions in their childhood. But the social handling of the phenomenon is still difficult. Since those threatened with malice and ridicule, most of them keep their intersexuality more secret. A public positioning to the sex „other“ would also be out of the question for them. There is also a lack of tolerance of others. Whether the public statement of the ethics council can effect anything at this point remains open. (Fp)

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Image: Thommy Weiss