Germany’s federal states are seeking to enshrine a ban on discrimination based on sexual identity in the country’s constitution. On Friday, the Bundesrat voted in Berlin to introduce a draft law in the Bundestag aimed at amending the Basic Law. According to the justification presented, sexual minorities in Germany continue to face disadvantages in society and are subjected to violent attacks because of their sexual identity.
To establish such protections, Article 3 of the Basic Law is to be expanded. The article already prohibits discrimination on several grounds, including gender, ethnicity, language, origin, and religion. The proposal seeks to add sexual identity to this catalogue of protected characteristics.
Only a constitutional ban, the proposal argues, can provide stable protection that is independent of current political majorities. However, the hurdles for amending the constitution are high: both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat would need two-thirds majorities to approve the change.
Sophie Koch, the federal government’s commissioner for queer affairs, welcomed the Bundesrat’s move. “The broad approval across party lines underlines the willingness to seriously address an amendment to Article 3 of the Basic Law,” Koch told the Rheinische Post. “I am very grateful to all those involved, especially the union-led federal states of Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, and North Rhine-Westphalia, which initiated this proposal.”
Praise also came from the LSVD Association for Queer Diversity. In a time when hostility toward queer people is demonstrably rising, this signal from the Bundesrat for sexual minorities was “of particular importance,” said board member Alexander Vogt. He added that when the Basic Law was introduced, gay men, lesbians, and other sexual minorities were “deliberately excluded from Article 3 as a persecuted group under National Socialism. This historic mistake must finally be corrected after 76 years.”
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
