Sources within the state government, led by the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), told the paper that the state government had withdrawn their case, thus bringing the country a step closer to recognising gay marriage.
The January 2005 law they were opposing attempts to change the recognised “life partnership” for same-sex partners to marriage. The CSU, the southern sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, alleged that this recognition was incompatible with the country’s constitution and their suit hinged on the law’s acceptance of adoption for gay couples.
According to the CSU, a gay couple raising children goes against “nature,” and the Article 6 child custody laws only allow parenting couples to consist of a man and a woman.
The paper reported that the case before the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe had been withdrawn via letter on July 8, 2009 and would be dismissed soon. The Bavarian government did not make a statement regarding the case.
Prior to withdrawing their case, the CSU had maintained that gay parenting damaged children. But two new studies on the topic released by the state justice ministry may have influenced the decision to withdraw the case, the paper said.
The insitute for family research at the University of Bamberg and the State Institute of Early Childhood Research (IFP) in Munich determined that there is no difference in development for children raised in traditional family arrangements or by same-sex parents.
Comments