Basic Law or Fundamental Law - Constitutional amendment urged to safeguard LGBTQ individuals by Lehmann.
Sven Lehmann, a representative of the Federal Government's queer community, is pushing for an update in the German Constitution to safeguard the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals in Germany. The Green party member highlighted the importance of adding explicit protection against discrimination for this group on the 30th anniversary of decriminalizing homosexuality in Germany.
Article 3 of the Constitution prohibits discrimination based on factors like gender, origin, and religion. However, sexual identity is still not recognized as a protected characteristic. Lehmann emphasized that this amendment is crucial to protect past achievements, such as same-sex marriage, from being reversed. He also underlined the importance of increased protection for queer folks in light of the growing threats posed by right-wing extremists and religious fundamentalists.
June 11, 1994, marked the end of Article 175 of the Criminal Code, which had persecuted homosexuality since 1871 and instigated discrimination against gays for decades. This article was only fully abolished in 1994, with both homosexual and heterosexual acts being allowed above a certain age limit.
Lehmann underscored the importance of more research in understanding why Article 175 could exist for such a long time while violating human rights.
The coalition agreement includes plans to add sexual identity to Article 3 as a new anti-discrimination criterion. However, achieving this will not be a walk in the park - two-thirds of the vote in the Bundestag and Bundesrat are needed to approve a constitutional change.
Lehmann celebrated the signs of support from CDU-led state governments, including Kai Wegner's government in Berlin, and called upon the CDU head, Friedrich Merz, and the Union faction in the Bundestag to back this vision.
