Joachim
Gauck has called for an open debate about same-sex marriage in Germany. His
plea comes ahead of an official visit to Ireland, which this year became the
first country to approve marriage equality by a referendum.
Deutsche Welle, 12 Juky 2015
German
President Joachim Gauck has praised the standard of the debate that took place
in Ireland in the leadup to the country's historic referendum on gay marriage.
In an interview with the "Irish Times," Gauck said he hoped to see a
similarly "sincere" and "engaging" discussion in Germany.
In May,
Irish citizens voted overwhelmingly in favor of amending the constitutional
definition of marriage to include same-sex couples. The step marked a
significant shift in the predominantly Catholic country, where homosexuality was
a criminal offense until 1993.
Gauck, who
is due to embark on a three-day trip to Ireland on Monday, said Germany needed
to have a debate so that "people don't have the sense that equality is
applied to them differently, or that it's a risk to live in one's own
way."
Same-sex
civil partnerships have been legal in Germany since 2001, but that status
doesn't give gay couples the same tax and adoption rights as marriage.
"It
should be made clear that gay people who want to live in a binding union be
given the chance for an equal life in love and partnership," the president
said.
Federal
Family Minister Manuela Schwesig, from the Social Democrats, echoed Gauck's
sentiments: "In the grand coalition we should also have an open debate on
enacting marriage for same-sex couples, in particular concerning adoption
law," she said in a statement.
"Society
cannot be a place for discrimination and exclusion of individuals based on their
sexual orientation," Schwesig added.
The Social
Democrats - the junior coalition partner to Chancellor Angela Merkel's
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) - support full equality for same-sex couples,
but the conservative CDU has resisted change, especially when it comes to
adoption rights.
nm/jr (AFP, dpa)
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