Section 175 of the Criminal Code was relaxed for persons over 21 years in East Germany in 1968, with West Germany following suit in 1969. However, although this meant that homosexual activity between men was decriminalized, it was not made legal.

Section 175 of the Criminal Code was amended during Nazi rule to create harsher penalties for homosexual behavior between men. Imprisonment was to range from three months to ten years in prison. Many homosexual men died in the Nazi concentration camps they were sent to.

Section 175 of the Criminal Code of the German Empire criminalized homosexual activity between men over the age of 18.
The penalty was imprisonment or a loss of civil rights.

Germany recognizes civil unions and provides tax benefits to couples in a civil union.

Following the amendment of the Act on the Amendment of Names and Sex Determination in Special Cases, known as the Law on Transsexuality (1981) by Judgment No. 1 BvR 3295/07 (2011) of the Federal Constitutional Court, the criteria for changing the name or both the name and the gender marker were unified. Currently, the law requires applicants to (i) prove that "due to their transsexual status, they do not feel comfortable with their sex registered at birth", (ii) they have lived for at least three years "in accordance with the gender they identify with" and (iii) that their "situation of transexuality is foreseeably stable". This procedure is carried out before a municipal judge, which has to verify that these requirements are met by subjecting the applicant to an examination carried out by two expert witnesses "specialised in transsexualism". (ILGA)

In 2017, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSJ) commissioned the Humboldt University in Berlin to prepare an expert opinion on the "need for regulation and reform for transgender people".
It found that the current assessment procedure is in many cases characterized by disproportionate time and expense as well as degrading and discriminatory experiences and violates the fundamental rights of the applicants.

The non-governmental organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Transidentität und Intersexualität e.V. (dgti) issues a supplemental ID card which contains one's self-chosen first names, pronouns and gender before a legal name change has taken place. It is known and accepted by German ministries, the police, and many authorities. The supplemental ID card is often a condition to correct one's name at, among others, schools, universities, banks and insurance companies. In five German states, references to the ID have been included in coronavirus ordinances and associated explanations to recognize it as an identification document, e.g., together with vaccination certificates.
It has a special status of recognition in Germany. The legal basis of the supplemental ID card is the implementation of the request of the European Parliament, communicated in the 11th legislative period of the German parliament.

When the Self-Identification law was introduced, people who went through this old process could apply for a monetary compensation.

Section 8 § 1 of the German Transsexuellengesetz (Transsexuals Act of September 10, 1980) states that transgender people can change their first names and gender entry under the condition of gender-affirming surgery, sterilization, and divorce.

With the rise of the Nazi regime, transgender healthcare is banned, and the Berlin Institute for Sexual Science is closed;
the Nazi regime implements laws §§ 175 183, targeting LGBTQ+ individuals,

In 1919 the non-profit foundation Institute for Sexual Science was founded in Berlin by Magnus Hirschfeld, becoming the first sexology research center in the world.
The institute provided a range of endocrinologic and surgical services, including an early form of modern sex reassignment surgery in 1931.
Ludwig Levy-Lenz, the institute's primary surgeon for transgender patients, pioneered early facial feminization and masculinization procedures, alongside developing hair removal treatments utilizing the institute's X-ray facility.

The Civil Status Act (PStG) was amended to include Parapraph 45b to allow intersex people to identify themselves as "diverse" ("divers") or remove the gender entry.

Non-binary genders are not recognized.

Same-sex couples in Germany can legally adopt a step-child, biological or not of the other partner.

On September 24, 2021, new guidelines were introduced. Men in monogamous relationships with men can donate blood with no deferral.

However, men who have sex with men outside of a monogamous relationship still face a 4 month deferral.

A 1-year deferral was in effect.

Banned up until 2017.