Nyke Slawik
{{Short description|German politician (born 1994)}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Nyke Slawik
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Nyke Slawik MdB im Gespräch mit der Letzten Generation (cropped and rotated).jpg
| office = Member of the Bundestag
for North Rhine-Westphalia
| term_start = 26 October 2021
| term_end =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| constituency = Alliance '90/The Greens List
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|01|07|df=y}}
| birth_place = Leverkusen, Cologne
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = {{colorbox|{{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}|border=darkgray}} Alliance 90/The Greens
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater = Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf
| website = {{url|https://nyke-slawik.de/}}
}}
Nyke Slawik (born 7 January 1994) is a German politician and member of the Bundestag representing the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Alliance 90/The Greens list.{{cite web|url=https://www.zeit.de/zett/queeres-leben/2021-09/transsexualitaet-politik-trans-sichtbarkeit-bundestag-nyke-slawik-tessa-ganserer-interview|title=Zeit Online | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl. |website=zeit.de|access-date=27 September 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://plus.tagesspiegel.de/politik/als-erste-trans-frau-in-den-bundestag-ich-bin-ein-claudia-roth-ultra-fangirl-257404.html|newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online|title=Als erste trans Frau in den Bundestag: "Ich bin ein Claudia-Roth-Ultra-Fangirl"|access-date=27 September 2021}} Upon her election in the 2021 German federal election, Slawik and fellow politician Tessa Ganserer together became the first openly transgender people elected to the German parliament.Riham Alkousaa (28 September 2021), [https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/two-transgender-women-win-seats-german-parliament-2021-09-27/ Two transgender women win seats in German parliament] Reuters.
Early life and education
Slawik was born and raised in Leverkusen-Opladen, where her mother's family had lived for several generations. Her father immigrated to Leverkusen from the Polish region of Silesia in the late 1970s. After graduating from high school in 2012, she enrolled at Heinrich Heine University in the German city of Düsseldorf, where she studied English and American studies alongside Media and Communication studies. During her time at the university, she studied abroad in the city of Leicester, England and interned at the European Parliament in Brussels.{{Cite web|title=Über mich|url=https://nyke-slawik.de/ueber-mich/|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Nyke Slawik|language=de-DE}}
Political career
= Early beginnings =
In 2009, Slawik joined the Green Youth, the Green party's youth association, before serving as a board member of the Young Greens of Düsseldorf from 2013 to 2015.{{cite web|title=Activists Elizabeth Wathuti, Tara Houska, Adélaïde Charlier and Nyke Slawik to speak on climate and biodiversity at the Council|url=https://europeangreens.eu/news/activists-elizabeth-wathuti-tara-houska-ad%C3%A9la%C3%AFde-charlier-and-nyke-slawik-will-speak-climate|access-date=27 September 2021|website=European Greens}}{{cite web|title=Trans Frau Nyke Slawik (27, Die Grünen) will in den Bundestag -|url=https://www.bild.de/regional/koeln/koeln-regional-politik-und-wirtschaft/trans-frau-nyke-slawik-27-die-gruenen-will-in-den-bundestag-76803450.bild.html|access-date=27 September 2021|website=bild.de|date=19 June 2021 }} From 2015 to 2017, she was a member of the board of the Green Youth in her home state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2017, she ran as a Green candidate for the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. Two years later, during the 2019 European election in Germany, she ran as a Green party candidate for the European Parliament.
From 2018 to 2021, Slawik worked as research assistant in the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia for the MPs {{Interlanguage link|Wibke Brems|de}} and {{Interlanguage link|Matthi Bolte|de}}.{{cite web|title=Bundestagswahl: Jung, politisch, in den Bundestag?|url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/btw21/junge-kandidierende-101.html|access-date=27 September 2021|website=tagesschau.de}}
= Member of the Bundestag, 2021–present =
Slawik was elected to the Bundestag in the 2021 German federal election on the Green list of North Rhine-Westphalia. Along with fellow Green Tessa Ganserer, Slawik became the first openly transgender person elected to the German parliament.{{cite web|date=26 September 2021|title=NRW: Grüne: Trans-idente Nyke Slawik im Bundestag|url=https://www.wz.de/nrw/gruene-trans-idente-nyke-slawik-im-bundestag_aid-63106457|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Westdeutsche Zeitung|archive-date=5 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211005105527/https://www.wz.de/nrw/gruene-trans-idente-nyke-slawik-im-bundestag_aid-63106457|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|date=26 September 2021|title=Bundestagswahl: Tessa Ganserer wird erste transgeschlechtliche Bundestagsabgeordnete – Der Spiegel|url=https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/bundestagswahl-tessa-ganserer-wird-erste-transgeschlechtliche-bundestagsabgeordnete-a-71613732-6985-4966-aefe-fa0b97e7b862|access-date=27 September 2021|website=spiegel.de}}
In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Green Party under Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hendrik Wüst following the 2022 state elections, Slawik was part of her party’s delegation in the working group on transport.[https://gruene-nrw.de/2022/05/gruene-benennen-team-fuer-koalitionsverhandlungen/ GRÜNE benennen Team für Koalitionsverhandlungen] Grüne NRW, press release of 31 May 2022.
Other activities
- Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway (BNetzA), Alternate Member of the Rail Infrastructure Advisory Council (since 2022)[https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2022/kw12-de-parl-kontrollgremium-885558 Bundestag setzt Parlamentarisches Kontrollgremium ein] Bundestag, 24 March 2022.
Political positions
= Climate =
Slawik supports immediate action to be taken by Germany against the climate crisis, including totally phasing coal out by 2030 and transitioning to 100% renewable energies. She is also in favour of putting a halt to constructions of new roadways and extensions and instead investing that money into green transportation.{{Cite web|title=10 PUNKTE|url=https://nyke-slawik.de/10-punkte/|access-date=27 September 2021|website=Nyke Slawik|language=de-DE}}
= Social services =
Slawik favours raising the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour and increasing the Hartz IV unemployment benefits by 50 euros, as well as abolishing the sanctions placed on program recipients who do not meet certain conditions. She has also indicated that she supports potentially replacing the benefits with a more robust system.
= Social justice =
To advance the rights of marginalized groups in Germany, Slawik supports establishing an all-encompassing federal anti-discrimination law, requiring women to make up at least 50% of German parliaments and executive business boards. She supports an identity self-determination law for transgender Germans, and ending the pay gap between women and men. Slawik also supports a nationwide plan to combat racism, sexism, transphobia and homophobia.
= Youth participation =
Slawik supports a possible decrease in the voting age to 16 to facilitate increased youth involvement in government.
References
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{{Members of the 21st Bundestag}}{{Members of the 20th Bundestag}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slawik, Nyke}}
Category:Members of the Bundestag for Alliance 90/The Greens
Category:Members of the Bundestag 2021–2025
Category:People from Leverkusen
Category:Transgender women politicians
Category:LGBTQ members of the Bundestag
Category:21st-century German LGBTQ people
Category:Politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia
Category:German transgender women
Category:German people of Polish descent
Category:German transgender politicians
Category:Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029
Category:Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia