Transphobia

Transphobia refers to discrimination against trans people. Transphobic people are not afraid, but have an aversion and hostility against queer people. This is why “Transfeindlichkeit” and not “Transphobie” is used in German. There is no suitable equivalent in English yet, which is why we continue to use the term transphobia here.

Trans people identify with another gender than the gender assigned to them at birth, change their gender identities, or feel that they either do not belong to any gender or that they belong to several genders. Trans women, trans men, gender fluid or non-binary people can all be victims of transphobia. This form of discrimination can also apply to people who are not trans but who are perceived as being so. Trans people are subjected to massive discrimination, expressed in the form of threats, exclusion, stigmatization, ridicule, insults, but also physical or other violence.

This discrimination is also structural. For instance, transgenderism was incorrectly classified until 2022 in Germany as a mental illness (“Geschlechtsidentitätsstörung”), and changing one’s name, marital status, gender or body is often a lengthy and difficult process for those affected.

At Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, trans students can change their name and title provisionally for internal university purposes even before a change of name or status is approved by a court. Further information is available here.

Sources: Queer Lexikon; Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes