Question for posters who are German/live in Germany

[GreyskySexRealistsky]

...or have an understanding of the German language and society

How do you personally understand the "d" option in m/w/d?

For people who don't speak German - this appears on German job adverts, it means the job is open to everyone: male, female and "diverse" ("divers" in German)

My friend (not native English speaker) insists it means non-binary but I think it's more. In fact, I think it's a bit of a catch-all category for people who don't see themselves as male or female.

I'm interested in how German speakers understand this.

Nine sprechen deutsch - at a guess I say it was a covered all for the confused simpletons who can't make up their mind about what they are and those who are lying through their teeth about what they are. 😁

Trans/NB (for those who wish to divulge/own trans status rather than ticking box they identify as). NB is those who don't want to identify at all.
It's neat enough. We don't have it on many forms here, maybe we should.
Many now have "prefer not to say".

I think it's a bit of a catch-all category for people who don't see themselves as male or female.

That's correct

It is a catch all but people who don't see themselves as male or female are NB?

The "diverse" gender category was created in response to a Constitutional Court ruling that exclusively applied to intersex people. In the decade or so since the ruling, it was only used by a vanishing small number of people. That said, the bonkers new Self-ID law now means anybody can self-declare as "diverse" gender.

Really, I actually find that quite distasteful, it's implying that people who have DSD conditions are not quite human. 🙁

I'm not surprised that the Gender Idiots have hijacked though. 🤪

It's not implying anything of the sort. As it happens, the initial court case was brought by somebody with a DSD who didn't want to be forced to choose either male or female. Neither the registry office nor the lower courts would allow them to remain indeterminate, but the Constitutional Court agreed they shouldn't be forced to pick one or the other when they didn't identify with either. Again, this was about a tiny tiny minority even among people with DSDs - iirc just a few hundred people used the "diverse" option in something like a decade.

Thanks, I find it a tough one to translate. "Diverse" just sounds weird to me in English but I don't think anything else fits either.

Oh it's just as weird in German!

Oh really? I assumed it would sound more normal there.

As an aside, I remember reading something about a job ad (?) that had been wrongly translated and was advertising for divers (Taucher) to apply. I can only assume it was automated translation 😄

Surely it must just be limited to people who deny or cavil at their own sex? Otherwise, why would they add it at the end to mean more than just 'alternative sex identity'?

That would be as ridiculous (and offensive) as saying "Open to men, women, black people, gay people, disabled people..." - as all black, gay and disabled people have obviously already been covered by one of the first two (unless they're children - in which case they probably aren't looking for a job anyway).