Private is private.
This also applies in principle to civil servants.
But they are also subject to duties related to their office and the exercise of it.
For example, soldiers must not seriously damage the reputation of the Bundeswehr and the respect and trust that their position requires through their off-duty behavior.
On this basis, a reprimand to a battalion commander has now been confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court.
It wasn't about her open sex life, nor that she used to be a man.
The stumbling block was the revealing way in which the soldier looked for contacts on a relevant portal.
One may scandalize the decision – but one can also ask whether one would not make a similar decision in the case of a city director or headmaster.
There's more at stake here.
The commander, who is now in another position, was responsible for around a thousand soldiers, to whom she is linked through camaraderie, command and obedience, especially when deployed abroad, even in confined areas.
In this position, you can't fully express yourself in private either.
It's not about how the concrete behavior of the soldier is received by her comrades, but about the effect on the outside.
If you don't understand this at all, you should take off your uniform completely.