Tessa Ganserer
MdB
Ganserer in 2019
Member of the Bundestag
for Bavaria
Assumed office
26 October 2021
ConstituencyAlliance '90/The Greens List
Member of the Landtag of Bavaria for Middle Franconia
In office
7 October 2013 – 26 October 2021
ConstituencyAlliance '90/The Greens List
Personal details
Born
Markus Ganserer

(1977-05-16) 16 May 1977
Zwiesel, Bavaria, West Germany
Political party  Alliance 90/The Greens
SpouseInes Eichmüller
Children2
Alma materWeihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science
Websitetessa-ganserer.de

Tessa Ganserer (born Markus Ganserer; 16 May 1977) is a German politician who has served as a member of the Bundestag since 26 October 2021. Previously, she was a member of the Landtag of Bavaria, representing the constituency of Middle Franconia on the Alliance '90/The Greens list.[1][2] In 2018 Ganserer came out as a transgender woman, becoming the first openly transgender person in a German state or federal parliament.[3]

Early life and career

Tessa Ganserer was born as Markus Ganserer on 16 May 1977 in Zwiesel, Bavaria.[4] He studied forestry and engineering at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science, graduating in 2005. Later that year he worked as a staffer for German politician Christian Magerl.[4]

Political career

Early beginnings

Ganserer belongs to Alliance 90/The Greens, a green political party, and has been a member since 1998. She ran for a seat in the Landtag of Bavaria in 2008 but was unsuccessful. From 2008 to 2018 she served as the District Executive of the Green Middle Franconia.

State politics

In the 2013 elections, Ganserer was elected in the Nuremberg North electoral district to sit in the Landtag.[5] She sat on the committees for Economic and Media Affairs, Infrastructure, Construction and Transport, Energy and Technology, and as Vice Chair of Public Service from 2013 until 2018.[6][7]

In December 2018 Ganserer came out as transgender woman, becoming the first member of the Landtag of Bavaria and of a German parliament to be openly transgender.[8][9][10] She made her first public appearance as a woman at a press conference in Munich on 14 January 2019.[11][12] Ilse Aigner, a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and President of the Landtag of Bavaria, supported Ganserer in her transition and welcomed her to parliament as a woman.[13][14][15] While her gender change has not yet been legally finalized, Ganserer was recognized in the Landtag as a woman.[16]

In 2019, Ganserer pushed for reform to make name changes and sex changes on identity documents more accessible.[17]

National politics

In the 2021 German Federal Election, Ganserer was elected to the Bundestag on the Alliance 90/The Greens list for Bavaria. Because her government records remain unchanged, she was forced to appear on the ballot under her deadname.[18] Along with fellow Green Nyke Slawik, Ganserer became the first openly transgender person elected to the German Parliament.

In parliament, Ganserer has been serving on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development.[19]

Other activities

  • Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation, Deputy Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2022)[20]

Personal life

Ganserer is married to Ines Eichmüller and has two sons.[21]

Ganserer has not changed his legally recorded name and gender in protest against the German Transsexual Law, which requires two psychological evaluations by court-appointed evaluators to validate a person's transgender identity. Ganserer has described these as "degrading compulsory appraisals". The law also used to require sterilization, which was deemed unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in 2011.[22]

References

  1. ↑ "Abgeordnetenkarte 2020 | Bayerischer Landtag". www.bayern.landtag.de. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. ↑ "Nach der Bundestagswahl: Wie geht es jetzt weiter?". www.rnd.de (in German). 26 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Riham Alkousaa (28 September 2021), Two transgender women win seats in German parliament Reuters.
  4. 1 2 "Aus Markus wird Tessa Ganserer – plötzlich eine Frau mehr im bayerischen Landtag". haz.de. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  5. ↑ "Regional lawmaker is Germany's first transgender MP - The Express Tribune". tribune.com.pk. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Suche - Bayerischer Landtag". bayern.landtag.de. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Tessa Ganserer - Abgeordnete - Bündnis 90/Die Grünen im Landtag Bayern". gruene-fraktion-bayern.de. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "Tessa Ganserer: Grünen-Abgeordnete ist erste Transfrau im Bayerischer Landtag". WEB.DE. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "'I am a woman with every fiber of my body': Germany's first transgender MP". The Local. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Süddeutsche.de GmbH, Munich, Germany (5 January 2019). "Tessa Ganserer, erste Transfrau im bayerischen Landtag - Bayern - Süddeutsche.de". sueddeutsche.de. Retrieved 11 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Tessa Ganserer makes history as first transgender MP in Germany". gaytimes.co.uk. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "German MP Tessa Ganserer comes out as transgender - PinkNews · PinkNews". pinknews.co.uk. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Transgender bei den Landtags-Grünen: Markus ist nun Tessa - BR24". br.de. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  14. ↑ "German MP Comes Out as Trans Woman, Makes History". advocate.com. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "Für die Grünen: Tessa Ganserer ist die erste Transfrau im Landtag - Politik". merkur.de. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  16. ↑ Schwilden, Frédéric (14 January 2019). "Grünen-Abgeordnete Tessa Ganserer: Eine ganz normale Frau". Die Welt. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  17. ↑ Germany’s first trans lawmaker Tessa Ganserer, who transitioned from male to female in Bavaria’s regional parliament in 2019, is also pushing for reform to make it easier to change your name and sex on identity documents.
  18. ↑ "Mit dem abgelegten Namen auf dem Wahlzettel – "schmerzvoll und erniedrigend"". Die Welt. 15 September 2021.
  19. ↑ Helmut Kleebank leitet den Beirat für nachhaltige Entwicklung Bundestag, press release of 16 March 2022.
  20. ↑ Mitglieder mehrerer Gremien gewählt Bundestag, press release of 2 June 2022.
  21. ↑ "Der Raserei auf deutschen Autobahnen ein Ende setzen" (PDF). jeden-kann-es-treffen.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  22. ↑ "Worauf achten Sie bei anderen zuerst?". sz-magazin.sueddeutsche.de. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
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