The Third Gender

Diversity is More

Is it a boy or a girl? German federal law requires that the identity of a child, including the child’s gender, be reported to the Office of Civil Registry within one week of their birth. For a long time, gender has been predominantly understood, both legally and socially, as binary; one is either “male” or “female”. Those who identified with neither or both were effectively excluded from society. Since 2013, however, German law has allowed people to refrain from gender identification in official reporting, and in 2018 an option to identify as “divers” (other) was added.
In October 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the German Basic Law should protect the gender identity of those who permanently identify with neither the male nor female classifications. But does a third option for gender identification do justice to the true diversity of gender identity?
How is gender affiliation defined, and how does it relate to gender discourse for non-binary, transgender, transsexual, or intersex persons? The exhibition “The Third Gender. Diversity is More” brings together multicultural voices that deal with these questions, and reflect on societal and social understanding of gender diversity.

Artistic direction: Janusz Czech, Lisa Schlenker (assistent)
Co-curator: Tobias Ebel