Tessa Ganserer
Tessa Ganserer (born 16 May 1977) is a German politician who has served as a member of the Landtag of Bavaria since 7 October 2013, representing the constituency of Middle Franconia on the Alliance '90/The Greens list. During the 2021 German Federal Election Ganserer was elected to the Bundestag from Bavaria on the Alliance '90/The Greens list. She took her seat on 26 October 2021. In 2018 Ganserer came out as a transgender woman, becoming the first openly transgender person in a German state or federal parliament. Early life and career. Ganserer was born on 16  May 1977 in Zwiesel, Bavaria. She studied forestry and engineering at Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Science, graduating in 2005. Later that year she worked as a staffer for German politician Christian Magerl. Political career. Early beginnings. Ganserer belongs to Alliance 90/The Greens, a green political party, and has been a member since 1998. She ran for a seat in the Landtag of Bavaria in 2008 but was unsuccessful. From 2008 to 2018 she served as the District Executive of the Green Middle Franconia. State politics. In the 2013 elections, Ganserer was elected in the Nuremberg North electoral district  to sit in the Landtag. She sat on the committees for Economic and Media Affairs, Infastructures, Construction and Transport, Energy and Technology, and as Vice Chair of Public Service from 2013 until 2018. In December 2018 Ganserer came out as transgender woman, becoming the first member of the Landtag of Bavaria and of a German parliament to be openly transgender. She made her first public appearance as a woman at a press conference in Munich on 14 January 2019. Ilse Aigner, a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria and President of the Landtag of Bavaria, supported Ganserer in  her transition and welcomed her to parliament as a woman. In 2019, Ganserer pushed for reform to make name changes and sex changes on identity documents more accessible. National politics. In the 2021 German Federal Election, Ganserer was elected to the Bundestag on the Alliance 90/The Greens list for Bavaria. However, because Ganserer has not changed her legal name in protest against the German Transsexual Act, which requires invasive psychological evaluations to change name and gender marker, she was forced to appear on the ballot under her deadname. Along with fellow Green Nyke Slawik, Ganserer became the first openly  transgender person elected to the German Parliament. While her gender change has not yet been legally finalized, Ganserer is recognized in the Landtag as a woman. In parliament, Ganserer has been serving on the Committee on the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development. Personal life. Ganserer is married to Ines Eichmüller and has two sons. Ganserer has not formally changed her name and gender under German law due to constitutionality concerns about the process. She is listed under her deadname on the official election ballots in Germany as of 2021