German law allows third gender in birth certificates

The German parliament on Friday approved a law allowing a third gender option on birth certificates for people who are not distinctly male or female.

Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right coalition had passed legislation that people can be registered as "miscellaneous".

This is somewhat of a drastic change, as in 2013 Germany left the gender option "blank" for people unsure.

The new German law also allows changing a person's gender and name at a later stage, but it drew criticism because this will in most cases require a medical examination.

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