With the help of six fields of action, queer people in Germany should experience more protection and acceptance in the future. Among other things, an adapted family law and a self-determination law should ensure this.
The federal government has decided on an action plan “Queer Living”. The government commissioner Sven Lehmann spoke of a “historic day”. For the first time, there is a cross-departmental strategy at federal level for the acceptance and protection of sexual and gender diversity. The action plan has six fields of action.
For example, it is about the legal recognition of “rainbow families” through a reform of descent and family law. One important change that is being sought concerns married lesbian couples who have a child together. So far, it has been regulated that only the woman who gave birth to the child is recognized as the legal mother. The “non-bearing mother”, as stated in the action plan, can only become a legal mother through stepchild adoption. This rule is to be abolished so that when a child is born, both mothers automatically become legal mothers. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann wants to present the cornerstones of the reform of parentage in the coming year.
Another goal is a “ban on discrimination on the basis of sexual identity” in the Basic Law. To this end, the government intends to amend Article 3 of the constitution accordingly. Not an easy undertaking, because: A two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat is required for the change.
In addition, the transsexual law is to be replaced by a self-determination law. The aim of the new Self-Determination Act is to enable everyone in Germany to determine their gender and first name themselves in the future and change them in a simple procedure at the registry office. Other fields of action are participation, health, advice, international issues and security.
With the action plan, the federal government wants to “resolutely counteract anti-queerism,” said Lehmann. According to official statistics, there are “three to four attacks on queer people” every day, “the number of unreported cases is far higher.”
“Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people as well as all queer people must be able to participate in society on an equal footing, freely, safely and self-determinedly,” Lehmann demanded. With the action plan, the federal government therefore wants to “sustainably promote the acceptance of LGBTIQ* in all areas”. The majority of the measures are to be implemented in the next three years, he announced. In 2024, the Bundestag should then be informed about the progress.
Non-heterosexual people or those who do not identify with the traditional role model of men and women or other social norms relating to gender and sexuality describe themselves as queer.