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  • Germany’s history with LGBT rights has been confusing, to say the least.

  • Although it is one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world, today same-sex marriage

  • is still outlawed despite being legal in 13 European countries.

  • And while a majority of German citizens support equal rights, the German government does not.

  • So, why is Germany so split on gay rights?

  • Well, being gay in Germany has always been kind of a mixed bag.

  • During the Weimar Republic which preceded the Nazi Party coming to power, Germany was

  • the center of a homosexual revolution.

  • The open acceptance of gay men and women led to a number of changes in how homosexuality

  • was seen around the world.

  • Instead of treating it as a deviation fromnormalsexual tendencies, it was instead

  • understood as a natural, inborn characteristic.

  • Nearly a century before the same view made its way around the world.

  • Nonetheless, at the time there were laws on the books prohibiting same-sex relations between

  • men, referred to asParagraph 175”.

  • This law was rarely enforced until Nazis took control of Germany, and began enforcing and

  • broadening it to includelewdnessand even including those suspected of being gay.

  • Roughly 15,000 gay men were sent to concentration camps over the following years, and even after

  • the war ended, it took until 1969 for homosexuality to be decriminalized, and 1994 for the law

  • to be taken off the books.

  • Worse yet, it wasn’t until 2016 that Germany’s Justice Minister created legislation officially

  • pardoning all those convicted of homosexuality, both during and after Nazi rule.

  • But even today, same-sex marriage is still prohibited, although civil unions have been

  • permitted since 2001.

  • Yet a majority of Germany supports same-sex marriage, and a 2013 poll showed that Germans

  • have the second highest social acceptance of homosexuality in the world, after Spain,

  • with roughly 87%.

  • So why is Germany so behind its European counterparts?

  • Well, many blame German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.

  • Merkel herself is considered conservative on a number of social issues, potentially

  • as a result of her upbringing by a Protestant pastor father in the repressive East Germany.

  • Additionally, her political party, the Christian Democratic Union is considered center-right,

  • and has voted down numerous pro-LGBT bills.

  • Merkel has even said that heterosexual marriage is directly linked to the family, and both

  • should be protected by the state.

  • For her, this means falling behind the rest of Europe as LGBT rights continue to evolve.

  • Still, the government does seem to be progressing.

  • Just in 2013, due to a constitutional challenge, adoption rights were extended to gay couples

  • as long as one parent already had custody of the child.

  • However, joint-same sex adoption is still illegal in Germany.

  • That same year, the country also became the first in Europe to offer a third gender for

  • newborn children, known as “X”, which effectively postpones establishing gender

  • identity until a future point when either the parents or the child are comfortable deciding.

  • Although the German population is decidedly same-sex friendly and socially progressive,

  • it is taking time for that tolerance and acceptance to translate into legal benefits.

  • A very liberal Germany being run by a center-right leaning party seems to be the greatest source

  • of conflict.

  • Nonetheless, it is unlikely that the country will regress on LGBT rights, the only question

  • is how long it will take to move forward.

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  • Luckily enough, being gay is no longer a crime in Germany, but that’s not the case around

  • the world.

  • There are still countries where homosexual activity is a criminal offense, and in some

  • places you can be killed.

  • So, where is it illegal to be gay?

  • Find out in this video.

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Germany’s history with LGBT rights has been confusing, to say the least.

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