Facing a tougher election this year than in the past, German Chancellor Angela Merkel finally allowed a free vote on a bill legalizing marriage equality and adoption rights for all couples, including same sex couples. While polls have shown five in six Germans favor marriage equality, Merkel has staunchly opposed and prevented such a vote in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament, until now. Her governing coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) have long opposed the bill and many LGBT rights in general but with a September 24th election looming, marriage equality had become a hot issue in the campaign. After hinting she was thawing on the issue, the opposition parties called quickly for a vote. The Greens, Social Democrats (SPD) and other left and center-left parties have long favored marriage equality. In the vote on Friday the bill granting marriage equality passed 393-226 vote with four abstentions. The new law will read “Marriage is entered into for life by two people of different or the same sex.”
With Germany now set to join the ranks of those nations with marriage equality, Italy and Austria remain the last two major Western European nations who do not give same sex couples the same legal rights to marriage as opposite sex couples. Eastern Europe still remains a tough road to hoe, with only the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia offering civil partnerships and most nations explicitly banning marriage equality in their constitutions. The addition of Germany, the most populous nation in the EU, is a major milestone in the pursuit for LGBT equality and increases the pressure on the other EU nations who have heretofore shunned LGBT equality.
Congrats to Germany and Danke!