Yahoo – AFP,
June 27, 2017
Berlin
(AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday softened for the first time
her opposition to gay marriage, as her conservative party comes under growing
pressure on the issue ahead of elections in September.
Merkel, who
had repeatedly voiced her opposition to gay marriage, said that lawmakers could
vote according to their conscience, and not toe the party line.
Germany
introduced civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in 2001, but they do not
have the right to marry.
"I
would like to orient the discussion in a direction which raises the question of
a decision according to conscience rather than imposing anything," she
told Brigitte, a women's magazine.
This is a
significant shift for Merkel, who in 2013 said she opposed same-sex unions for
"the well-being of children."
Merkel's
Christian Democratic Party has so far opposed gay marriage in order to not
alienate its most conservative supporters and to avoid entering into a conflict
with its ally, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) which strongly backs
the concept of traditional families.
The CDU and
the CSU are due on Monday to present their common programme ahead of the
September 24 legislative election.
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