https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Germany in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed The German government on Thursday unveiled plans to make it easier for trans people to officially change their first name and gender, acknowledging that existing legislation was outdated and "humiliating". https://www.thelocal.de/20220630/germany-plans-to-make-legal-gender-change-easier Thu, 30 Jun 2022 15:49:45 +0200 germany-plans-to-make-legal-gender-change-easier Manspreading is annoying for everyone on public transport. Now Berlin-based activists are trying to raise awareness and stamp it out. https://www.thelocal.de/20210226/berlin-activists-show-manspreaders-who-wears-the-trousers Fri, 26 Feb 2021 10:53:51 +0100 berlin-activists-show-manspreaders-who-wears-the-trousers Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) is planning for equal representation of women within the party, according to sources. Here's how and why. https://www.thelocal.de/20200708/how-merkels-cdu-plans-for-50-percent-of-top-party-posts-to-be-filled-by-women-within-five-years Wed, 08 Jul 2020 11:13:56 +0200 how-merkels-cdu-plans-for-50-percent-of-top-party-posts-to-be-filled-by-women-within-five-years Language is always evolving, thanks to a mix of social change and Jugendsprache (youth talk). But can German language ever be gender inclusive? We dug deep to find out how the current gender language revolution started and where it might go. https://www.thelocal.de/20191101/from-frulein-to-the-gender-star-germanys-language-revolution Fri, 01 Nov 2019 18:28:17 +0100 from-frulein-to-the-gender-star-germanys-language-revolution A German soldier has lost a court battle to keep his hair long. The court however said that lawmakers will need to find a justification for why the rule - which allows women but not men to have longer hair - continues to exist. https://www.thelocal.de/20190201/german-court-rules-military-goth-must-cut-hair-and-beard Fri, 01 Feb 2019 16:49:01 +0100 german-court-rules-military-goth-must-cut-hair-and-beard The state of Brandenburg, a neighbouring state of Berlin, has approved a new landmark law aimed at boosting the number of women in state parliament. https://www.thelocal.de/20190131/brandenburg-approves-landmark-law-to-increase-number-of-women-in-politics Thu, 31 Jan 2019 18:01:36 +0100 brandenburg-approves-landmark-law-to-increase-number-of-women-in-politics Germany has passed a change in law that allows for people to opt for a third gender option on official forms. https://www.thelocal.de/20181214/germany-approves-third-gender-option-law Fri, 14 Dec 2018 13:14:54 +0100 germany-approves-third-gender-option-law The German government on Wednesday approved a draft law allowing a third gender option on birth certificates for babies who are not distinctly male or female. https://www.thelocal.de/20180815/diverse-cabinet-agrees-to-third-gender-on-birth-certificate Wed, 15 Aug 2018 15:33:47 +0200 diverse-cabinet-agrees-to-third-gender-on-birth-certificate Germany's new interior minister Horst Seehofer has outraged critics by appointing an all-male team to lead his ministry. The Twitterverse was quick to mock a photo of a row of old white men in suits. https://www.thelocal.de/20180329/middle-aged-men-in-suits-interior-ministry-photo-sparks-outrage Thu, 29 Mar 2018 14:47:54 +0200 middle-aged-men-in-suits-interior-ministry-photo-sparks-outrage Germany’s highest court in Karlsruhe on Tuesday ruled that women do not have to be addressed in forms as females. https://www.thelocal.de/20180313/banks-can-keep-addressing-women-as-men-high-court-rules Tue, 13 Mar 2018 10:34:54 +0100 banks-can-keep-addressing-women-as-men-high-court-rules On Sunday the German government’s equality commissioner made headlines by suggesting that it was time to make the national anthem less macho. So will erasing the word fatherland do the trick? https://www.thelocal.de/20180305/should-germany-get-rid-of-the-word-fatherland-from-it-national-anthem Mon, 05 Mar 2018 12:57:54 +0100 should-germany-get-rid-of-the-word-fatherland-from-it-national-anthem An elderly lady from Saarland has taken her bank all the way to Germany’s highest court in protest at having to fill out forms that address her as a man. https://www.thelocal.de/20180219/high-court-to-rule-on-whether-banks-can-keep-addressing-women-as-men Mon, 19 Feb 2018 13:30:40 +0100 high-court-to-rule-on-whether-banks-can-keep-addressing-women-as-men Germany's top court on Wednesday required parliament to legally recognize a "third gender" from birth, potentially making it the first European country to offer intersex people the option of identifying as neither male nor female. https://www.thelocal.de/20171108/germanys-top-court-requires-legal-option-of-third-gender Wed, 08 Nov 2017 11:12:13 +0100 germanys-top-court-requires-legal-option-of-third-gender From a transgender teddy bear to a fearless girl pirate, children's authors are tackling gender norms like never before, as debate rages about what it means to be a boy or girl. https://www.thelocal.de/20171011/transgender-teddy-girl-pirate-authors-tackle-gender-norms Wed, 11 Oct 2017 11:04:25 +0200 transgender-teddy-girl-pirate-authors-tackle-gender-norms It’s been about a year since The Local’s Shelley Pascual joined the team’s Berlin bureau. As she sets sail for challenges new, she reflects on her hopes for Deutschland’s future. https://www.thelocal.de/20180629/what-i-hope-for-germany-after-a-year-of-reporting-on-its-news Fri, 29 Jun 2018 18:53:12 +0200 what-i-hope-for-germany-after-a-year-of-reporting-on-its-news Controversy is brewing at Germany's century-old and only women's swimming pool, over the fact that more men are now working there. https://www.thelocal.de/20170704/hundreds-sign-petition-to-kick-men-out-of-historic-women-only-baths Tue, 04 Jul 2017 18:25:42 +0200 hundreds-sign-petition-to-kick-men-out-of-historic-women-only-baths Germany is moving to close the pay gap between men and women with a proposed new law agreed in principle by the government's ruling coalition parties Thursday. https://www.thelocal.de/20161007/germany-takes-step-to-close-pay-gap-between-men-women Fri, 07 Oct 2016 11:09:12 +0200 germany-takes-step-to-close-pay-gap-between-men-women Nuremberg has become the first city in Germany to appoint an official men's officer, taking on responsibility for men's issues. https://www.thelocal.de/20160804/equality-germany-gets-its-first-mens-representative Thu, 04 Aug 2016 14:53:29 +0200 equality-germany-gets-its-first-mens-representative The Social Democratic Party (SPD) want to introduce a law allowing women to see what their male colleagues earn, in an attempt to level the gender pay gap. https://www.thelocal.de/20160511/spd-push-for-women-to-able-to-see-mens-salaries Wed, 11 May 2016 10:56:44 +0200 spd-push-for-women-to-able-to-see-mens-salaries Only two European countries pay women less than Germany: Estonia and Austria. https://www.thelocal.de/20160302/german-men-still-paid-20-percent-more-than-women Wed, 02 Mar 2016 09:53:21 +0100 german-men-still-paid-20-percent-more-than-women