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Conservatives reverse on gay marriage equality
Published: 23 Feb 13 13:45 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20130223-48153.html
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party is ready to give up its resistance to giving gay couples the same rights as heterosexual ones, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Saturday.
- Conservatives 'should be glad' gays want to marry - Analysis & Opinion (12 Feb 13)
- Conservatives rule out legalising gay marriage - Society (1 Aug 11)
- Greens revive calls for gay marriage - Politics (29 Jul 11)
The reversal was praised by Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Scharrenberger, a politician from the Free Democratic Party, the junior coalition partner in the federal government. She has pushed for equal treatment for some time.
Michael GrosseBrömer, the CDU parliamentary group leader, said that given “the clear tendencies of legal judgments of the Constitutional Court we should act as quickly as possible to allow for the required constitutional equality.”
He said the CDU Bundestag group is now discussing how to do that and talks at the coalition level will follow.
Should the CDU change its position it would pave the way for putting gay marriage on the same level as heterosexual ones, including providing for favorable tax laws and adoption rights, the paper said.
The FDP as well as opposition parties have long called for equal treatment of gay and heterosexual marriages before the law.
“I welcome that the CDU is open to a modern social policy,” Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told the paper.
“My ministry has a bill for the full adoption ready and waiting in the wings,” she added. The bill is a reaction to a recent decision by the Constitutional Court which gives marriage and domestic partnerships the same legal rights when it comes to adoption.
The ruling furthermore calls for laws applying to marriage partners to read that they apply to marriage partners or life partners.
Merkel has not been an ardent proponent for gay marriage equality in the CDU, but her party has been less opposed to giving same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual ones than its more conservative Bavarian sister party the CSU.
The Local/mw
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Your comments about this article:
Hehe, really?
Months go by and the son of this divorced gal is having a significant amount of issues at school....consuming alcohol (he's fourteen by this point)....the gossip is that he will never finish school, period. By this point, I make the comment to the German wife that maybe there is some sociological issues here with Johann and the lesbian "aunt" who now lives in the house. My wife gave me the nasty look and I avoided ever mentioning this episode ever again.
I don't think the kid ever finished school. And he's probably some loser who just unloads groceries at the local grocery shop. It's none of my business, and I shouldn't care. But here's the thing. The kid probably expected a different path in life, and didn't get it. And he couldn't accept it.
You cannot be serious with your story, right? You state that you simply 'observe'. You know nothing of the situation and yet you make stone-set decisions about the reasons. You completely invalidate your own argument. (maybe the child is like you, eh?)
FACT: Children of divorces are much more likely to drop out of school, become alcoholics, do drugs, etc. This is unarguable.
FACT: Some people simply aren't intelligent enough to finish school.
My husband (20 years old) is a child of a divorce. His grades plummeted, he drinks, and he has chronic depression. He gets upset over everything and he never used to. We can't even have sex without him getting depressed. Sorry if that's too much information for you. I've taken care of his counseling and kept him happy. Since we've been together his GPA went from a 2.1 to a 3.34, he has a good job now, and his depression is almost completely taken care of. We are a gay couple.
Back to your story, you have absolutely no idea of why the kid isn't doing well, you even said yourself you don't know what happened to him and yet you have the balls to say that it's because of his lesbian mother? Your ignorance is sadly not unbelievable because it is neanderthals like yourself who are claiming people like he aren't human enough to deserve equal rights. Because of people like you I had to spend thousands of dollars out of pocket for my husband's therapy! It's because he and I can't be legally married in the US so my insurance isn't accepted. I just turned 21 years old and spent most of my money helping my husband, I can't even legally call him my husband all because of ignorant people like you.
I despise people like you and am not afraid to say it, I'm glad your wife has more sense (given your story). Keep your hear-say to yourself and spare the world your ignorance. Bring facts, not gossip.
I don't give a sh#t if you think I am going to hell as long as you treat me like other people that you must think are also going to rot in hell (divorced couples, adulterers .....)
"No where in the Bible does it say gay is ok." - We are not in the dark Medieval Age anymore, so fortunately religious laws are irrelevant, they are not allowed to mess out lives anymore. Our secular laws reflect the idea of not discriminating based on sex or sexual preference. For example, it might be hard for you to accept that women and men deserve equal rights (even if the Bible does not agree), but fortunately the Church has little to say about it.
"Here I am , another dumm American ... " There is nothing more to say!
Make sure the children of same-sex couples will have the same legal protection as other children enjoy, as simple as that. And don't bring out the stupid argument that children of gay couples will be discriminated against!!! Yes they may, but the same may be true of mixed race couples, shall we stop mixed race marriages now?
There is not a single reason for gay people not to have the exact same rights as straight people. And that must include equal marriage. I think it is embarrasing for Germany not to have full equality yet.
"The wife"......."the German wife".....".divorcee gal"......."lesbian aunt".......and more examples.
How about some respectful terms being used to identify women?
The mom........my spouse or my wife......divorced woman......partner........etc.
I can certainly tell you that if I lived in a home with the mentality that was demonstrated by your comment I would quickly be a divorcee gal also......hello????? Do you really use these terms in your life, or are you simply using them to convey an attitude here?