Google – AFP, 23 October 2013
 |
Participants
on a float cheer next to the Siegessaeule (Victory Column) during
Berlin's
annual Christopher Street Day parade on June 25, 2011 (DPA/AFP/File,
Maurizio
Gambarini)
|
Berlin — A
German court said same-sex couples in civil unions are entitled to the same
state child benefits as married spouses, further bolstering gay rights in
Europe's most populous nation.
The Federal
Fiscal Court (BFH) in the southern city of Munich said in a statement that it
had ruled in favour of a woman in a civil union with a female partner, each of
whom brought two children into the relationship.
German
child benefits are granted to parents on a sliding scale with the sum per child
increasing for large families.
The
plaintiff, who was not identified by the court, argued that she and her partner
were entitled to the higher rate of 215 euros ($296) per child per month given
to families with four children.
A lower
court had dismissed her claim but the federal tribunal found in her favour on
the basis of a high court ruling this year requiring tax equality for same-sex
couples.
"The
BFH decided with its ruling that this legal application was also relevant for
determining child benefit rates," it said.
German law
has since 2001 allowed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, granting many
but not all the rights extended to heterosexual spouses.
The
country's highest court in June ordered tax equality for gay couples in a
landmark ruling, following a decision in February which found that gays in a
civil union should be allowed to adopt their partners' adopted children.
Gay couples
are still forbidden from adopting children together in Germany.
Chancellor
Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats on Wednesday entered into
formal coalition talks with the country's second biggest party, the Social
Democrats, who have said they will fight for an equality provision for same-sex
couples in the new government accord.
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