Society Law professor calls for the abolition of gender in passports

In an interview, the renowned professor of private law Thomas Geiser has called for the abolition of official gender in passports and civil registers. Making a distinction between men and women contradicts the constitutional requirement of equality, he said.

"The state should no longer make this distinction," Geiser told the Sonntagszeitung newspaper. Today, there is no longer any reason for the state to differentiate between men and women. "Everyone should still be able to call themselves man, woman or non-binary as they wish. But for the state, this distinction must be irrelevant."

The 71-year-old former professor at the University of St. Gallen and former part-time judge at the Federal Supreme Court called for the entries for man or woman to be deleted from the civil register. In his opinion, the abolition would simplify many things and would have no disadvantages.

Criminal law largely gender-neutral

There are now only very few relevant laws that make a distinction between the sexes. Most of the differences have been abolished in recent years, Geiser argued. The retirement age for women has been brought into line with that of men. According to the European Court of Human Rights, the differences in widows' pensions should also no longer exist. Criminal law is largely gender-neutral. "All that remains is compulsory military service, which distinguishes between men and women."

Geiser's idea goes further than the demand for a third gender. After winning this year's Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), music talent Nemo called for the introduction of a third gender at a meeting with Justice Minister Beat Jans. "A third gender, as Nemo has in mind, would solve one problem but would immediately create new ones, because even three genders would not be fair to all people," said Geiser. There would still be unnecessary constraints.

SDA