Two transgender women have made history in Germany this week when they were elected to parliament.
Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik both won seats Sunday while running for the Green Party, which is expected to play a pivotal role in a new three-way coalition government after a surprise win by the left-wing Social Democrats.
“At a time when people still make fun of us, when some trans people still face (bullying) or lose their jobs, this is historic,” Slawik, 27, from the western city of Leverkusen, told Reuters.
“For the first time, we’re going from victims in this society to standing on our own feet,” said Slawik, who was among four transgender women to run for parliament at the weekend.
Ganserer, 44, called it “a historic victory” for “the trans-emancipatory movement and for the entire queer community.”
Both politicians have vowed to push for new laws protecting the LGBTQ community.
Ganserer, who has two sons, wants to make it easier for lesbian mothers to adopt children, as well as make it easier to ratify a sex change on identity documents.
Slawik has called for a nationwide action plan against homophobia and transphobia, a self-determination law, and improvements to the federal anti-discrimination law.
Homosexuality was decriminalized in Germany in 1969 and same-sex marriage legalized in 2017.
But hate crimes against LGBTQ people jumped by 36 percent last year, according to police figures that highlight a rising trend of homophobia in parts of German society.
With Post wires