First Time, Transgender Woman Wins Seat In German Parliament

JAKARTA - Two German politicians from the Green Party made history by becoming the first transgender women to win a parliamentary seat in Sunday's national elections.

Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik, the Green Party politicians, who came third in the election, increased their vote share to 14.8 percent from 8.9 percent in 2017 and will play key roles in building the new government's three-way coalition.

"This is a historic victory for the Greens, but also for the trans-emancipatory movement and for the entire queer community," Ganserer told Reuters, adding the election result was a symbol of an open and tolerant society.

Elected as a member of parliament, Ganserer has a list of priority programs, an easier procedure for ratifying gender changes to identity documents.

Granserer, who was elected to Bavaria's regional parliament in 2013 and has two sons, also wants changes to the law so lesbian mothers can adopt children.

Meanwhile, Slawik's colleague said the results achieved were extraordinary. He secured a seat in parliament through the list of Green Party candidates in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

"Crazy! I still can't believe it, but with this historic election result, I will definitely be the next Bundestag member," Slawik wrote on Instagram.

Slawik has called for a national action plan against homophobia and transphobia, self-determination laws and improvements to federal anti-discrimination laws.

To note, homosexuality was decriminalized in Germany in 1969 and same-sex marriage was legalized in 2017. However, hate crimes against LGBT+ people jumped 36 percent last year, according to police figures highlighting the growing trend of homophobia in some parts of German society.