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LGBTQIA+
'Gender diversity is a social reality and an integral part of university life. […] As institutions under public law, universities are required to create conditions that allow their members to work and study in an environment that is as free from discrimination as possible. This will involve giving consideration to existing relationship inequalities (power hierarchies) that can affect members of the university studying or working to attain an academic or professional qualification.'[1]
The principal gender equality officer and her team at Saarland University provide support and advice to members of staff and students on gender equality issues. Students and staff can address any aspect of inequality and discrimination relating to gender and/or sexual orientation.
We also aim to raise awareness of gender and diversity issues among students and university employees by organizing educational campaigns and events and by encouraging networking and coordination in the fields of gender and diversity research.
[1]bukof – Gender diversity guidance document
The Gender Equality Office provides advice and support to members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are or have been discriminated against or treated unfairly because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
If you have been a victim of discrimination at Saarland University, please get in touch with us. We are here to listen and to offer personal and confidential support. We are the contact point for victims of sexual discrimination and assault and offer advice to victims and their families. Please be assured that we take the issue of confidentiality very seriously.
Germany's Transsexual Act (TSG) enables transgender people to adopt new first names and to change their legal gender identity from male to female or from female to male. The applicant must demonstrate that their transsexuality has meant that they no longer identify with the sex they were assigned at birth and that this has been the case for more than three years and is likely to be the case permanently. This process is often both lengthy and stressful for a transgender person as it involves constant confrontation with their dead name (the birth name that they have rejected[2]), interaction with the authorities and financial strain.
The Gender Equality Office supports transgender persons who wish to change their name at university and can provide support at all stages of the change process.
If you wish to apply to change your name at university, you will need to provide the following:
- Supplemental identity card (Ergänzungsnachweis)[3] issued by dgti – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Transidentität und Intersexualität (German Society for Trans Identity and Intersexuality). The supplemental ID card, which can be applied for online, serves as a preliminary identification document and is valid in combination with the holder's existing national identity card.
- Proof that you have submitted a change of name application to the relevant district court (Amtsgericht).
[2] A dead name is a first name that was assigned to a person (usually at birth) and that they no longer use or recognize. Continuing to use the birth name that is no longer relevant or active in the person's life is referred to as dead naming. Dead naming can affect anyone who has rejected an old first name. However, using someone's dead name can be particularly distressing and disrespectful in the case of trans persons who are now living under a new (first) name. Sometimes dead naming is unintentional, but it is often done deliberately as a means of refusing to recognize the gender identity of a trans person.
See What is Deadnaming?, accessed on 8 August 2023.
[3] Applications should be submitted to dgti; fee: €19.90; processing time: 6–8 weeks
- The Queer Support Unit at AStA.
- The Queer Support Unit at AStA (General Student Committee) acts as a first point of contact for queer networking and active student involvement in queer issues.
- Queer Working Group
- The Queer Working Group, which is closely linked to the Queer Support Unit, runs regular meetings, such as the book club 'Queergelesen' FrauenGenderBibliothek (Saarland's specialist library for women's and gender-related issues), where members of the LGBTQIA+ community can connect with each other and share ideas and experiences.
- Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management Unit
- The university's Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management Unit also supports activities in the field of LGBTQIA+ inclusion. More information is available here.
- The Federal Association of Women's Representatives and Gender Equality Officers in higher education (bukof) provides a platform where all those working for equal opportunities at universities and higher education institutions can collaborate to 'shape the structure and culture of universities in Germany in a gender-equitable manner.' [4] By involving a variety of stakeholders from different types of higher education institutions, bukof offers a positive mixture of differing experiences and fields of expertise. bukof also publishes a broad range of information materials and useful recommendations for action, guidelines and information leaflets on topics, such as 'sexual discrimination and sexual assault' and queer issues.
- The principal gender equality officer at Saarland University Dr. Sybille Jung has been a member of the bukof executive board since 2009 where she has actively promoted gender diversity and the implementation of diversity-sensitive gender policies at institutions of higher education.
- [4] bukof https://bukof.de/ueber-die-bukof/organisation/