This award honors her outstanding commitment to the human rights of intersex individuals with the greatest respect. For many years she has rendered outstanding services to the equal recognition, inclusion, and social acceptance of intersex individuals. This was the reason why Anja Karliczeck, Federal Minister of Education and Research, presented Konstanze Plett with the Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at a ceremony in Berlin last Friday on behalf of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
In-Demand Expert on the Subject of the “Third Option”
Konstanze Plett has been researching and teaching law at the University of Bremen since 1982 – initially at the Centre of European Law and Politics (ZERP) and then in the Faculty of Law since 2003. She was a founding member of the Bremen Institute for Gender, Labour and Social Law (bigas). From 2002 to 2006 she was spokesperson of the Zentrum Gender Studies (ZGS – gender studies center). She formally retired in 2012, but continues to teach and conduct research.
In the field of legal research, Konstanze Plett takes a social-science approach. Since the 1990s she has been working on gender and law and has focused particularly on intersexuality since 2000. She has published numerous essays and given many lectures on this topic. As an expert, she was consulted by committees of the German Bundestag and she also advised other institutions. Plett is a coauthor of the constitutional complaint and was one of the legal representatives in the “third option” case for entering gender in state registers. The Federal Constitutional Court accepted the appeal in October 2017 and the corresponding law came into force in December 2018. Intersex individuals can now be entered into birth registers and official documents based on them with the designation “divers” (indeterminate).
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is awarded in eight different levels. The first award is generally the Medal of Merit or the Cross of Merit. The bestowal of the Order of Merit awarded by the federal president is, in most cases, the responsibility of the minister presidents of the federal states, state or federal ministers, district presidents, or mayors.
Additional Information:
www.bmbf.de/de/referat-presse-soziale-medien-internet-17.html
www.uni-bremen.de
Contact:
Professor Konstanze Plett
Faculty of Law
University of Bremen
Tel.: +49 421 218-66090
E-mail: plettprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
