Germany to compensate gay soldiers who faced discrimination
Chancellor Angela Merkel's government on
Wednesday agreed a draft bill that would compensate gay soldiers who faced
discrimination in the armed forces between 1955 and 2000.
Under the proposed law, which needs to be approved by parliament, soldiers
who were convicted by military courts for being gay, demoted or who otherwise
saw their careers damaged because of their sexual orientation, would receive a
"symbolic amount" of €3,000.
"We cannot erase the suffering inflicted upon these people," Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the RND newspaper group. "But we want
to send a signal" and "turn the page on a dark chapter in the history of the
armed forces", she said.
The compensation would apply to soldiers from the Bundeswehr, which was
created in West Germany in 1955, and to troops from former East Germany's
National People's Army, founded in 1956.
READ ALSO: More Germans identify as LGBT than in rest of Europe
The defence ministry estimates that about 1,000 people would be eligible
for a payout.
Military court judgments against soldiers for engaging in consensual gay sex acts would also be quashed under the draft bill.
It took until 1969 for homosexuality to be decriminalised in West Germany, but discrimination against gay service people continued for much longer, including after Germany was reunified in 1990.
Gay soldiers could expect to be overlooked for promotions or removed from positions of responsibility, with senior officers often deeming them a "security risk" or a bad example to others.
That ended with a law change in 2000 that officially protected gay, lesbian
and bisexual people from discrimination in the armed forces.
See Also
Under the proposed law, which needs to be approved by parliament, soldiers
who were convicted by military courts for being gay, demoted or who otherwise
saw their careers damaged because of their sexual orientation, would receive a
"symbolic amount" of €3,000.
"We cannot erase the suffering inflicted upon these people," Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the RND newspaper group. "But we want
to send a signal" and "turn the page on a dark chapter in the history of the
armed forces", she said.
The compensation would apply to soldiers from the Bundeswehr, which was
created in West Germany in 1955, and to troops from former East Germany's
National People's Army, founded in 1956.
READ ALSO: More Germans identify as LGBT than in rest of Europe
The defence ministry estimates that about 1,000 people would be eligible
for a payout.
Military court judgments against soldiers for engaging in consensual gay sex acts would also be quashed under the draft bill.
It took until 1969 for homosexuality to be decriminalised in West Germany, but discrimination against gay service people continued for much longer, including after Germany was reunified in 1990.
Gay soldiers could expect to be overlooked for promotions or removed from positions of responsibility, with senior officers often deeming them a "security risk" or a bad example to others.
That ended with a law change in 2000 that officially protected gay, lesbian
and bisexual people from discrimination in the armed forces.
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.