According to § 3 para 1 of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), direct discrimination is given ‘when a person experiences/will experience a less favourable treatment in a situation compared to another person on the grounds stated in § 1’. 

Direct discrimination of trans* people is based on the pejorative, stigmatised and negative behaviour against trans* people due to their gender identity. One example by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in the area of employment makes this clear: ‘My […] employer fired me before starting my new position as HR manager. In a private discussion I was told that the head HR manager of Europe felt offended after he found out that I am a trans woman. He did not work with a trans woman and told the manager of the German subsidiary to terminate me immediately’.