Judge: 'Transe' is a derogatory term - Plaintiff asserts right to injunction
The plaintiff, according to court records, has been a trans woman for approximately 40 years. Her gender entry states "female." In addition, the trans woman advocates against transphobia - among other things, through contributions in social media.
The injunction lawsuit was directed against a blogger who had published an article with the headline: "Attempted warning against announcement: Obsessive trans person pulls in the reins." The background of the article was a previous unsuccessful warning issued by the plaintiff against the defendant regarding another article. In the ensuing court proceedings, the plaintiff waived her claims.
The responsible press senate of the OLG evaluated the statement of the blogger, according to a statement, as an expression of opinion, which, although it did not exceed the limit of insulting criticism, would be understood by an average reader as "deliberate disparagement." The word "trans" has only a derogatory meaning in common usage. It is "highly offensive and discriminatory," it continued.
Through this slur, the term "pulls in the reins" also gains a sexual secondary meaning for the average reader in this specific context with a trans woman, which is particularly derogatory, explained the OLG further. Since the average reader considers the possibility that the plaintiff has had her male genitalia removed, she is ridiculed in a dehumanizing way as a "joke," it said.
As a satirical statement, the term could not be evaluated in this way. For it contained no signals indicating satire. Moreover, there were no signs that the statement only appeared ironic.
The right to freedom of expression of the defendant outweighed here, however, the general personality rights of the plaintiff. In the context of the legal dispute between the parties, such a dehumanizing denigration of the plaintiff could not be justified, the court declared.
The decision in the expedited proceedings was already rendered on Thursday and is not subject to appeal.
- The plaintiff, being a trans woman, initially filed a lawsuit against the OLG due to an offensive article published by a blogger, referring to her as a "obsessive trans person."
- The plaintiff later chose to withdraw her claim in the court proceedings, despite the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt determining the article as an expression of opinion with derogatory undertones towards trans individuals.
- In the article, the term "trans" was used in a derogatory manner, and the phrase "pulls in the reins" gained a sexual secondary meaning in the specific context with a trans woman, which the court found highly offensive and discriminatory.
- The court evaluated the right to freedom of expression of the defendant as outweighing the general personality rights of the plaintiff in this case, as the derogatory denigration of the plaintiff could not be justified within the legal dispute between them.
- Regarding the Python script, it is important to note that while this text contains references to a dispute related to transphobia and freedom of speech, it has no connection to the given words and thus cannot be a suitable sentence to include.
