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LGBT Rights in Germany

    Homosexuality
    ✔ Legal
    Gay Marriage
    ✔ Legal
    Censorship
    ✔ No censorship
    Changing Gender
    ✖ Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
    Non-binary gender recognition
    ✖ Intersex only
    Discrimination
    ✔ Illegal
    Employment Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Housing Discrimination
    ✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
    Adoption
    ✔ Legal
    Military
    ✔ Legal
    Donating Blood
    ✔ Legal
    Conversion Therapy
    ✔ Banned
    Age of Consent
    ✔ Equal

Recent surveys in Germany indicate a moderate level of acceptance for LGBTQ+ rights in specific areas.

Germany Surveys

Muslim Support for Same-Sex Marriage

60%
Approve of gay marriage

History

Homosexual activity in Germany

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Homosexual activity in Germany is legal.

Current status
Since Jun 11, 1994
Legal
Germany fully repealed section 175 of the German Criminal Code and legalized homosexual activity in 1994.
Added by beeurd  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Sep 1, 1969–Jun 11, 1994
Legal
Section 175 of the Criminal Code was relaxed for persons over 21 years in East Germany in 1968, with West Germany following suit in 1969. However, although this meant that homosexual activity between men was decriminalized, it was not made legal.
Added by bradcoffey106  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Sep 1, 1935–Sep 1, 1969
Illegal (death penalty as punishment)
Section 175 of the Criminal Code was amended during Nazi rule to create harsher penalties for homosexual behavior between men. Imprisonment was to range from three months to ten years in prison. Many homosexual men died in the Nazi concentration camps they were sent to.
Added by bradcoffey106  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

May 15, 1871–Sep 1, 1935
Male illegal, female legal
Section 175 of the Criminal Code of the German Empire criminalized homosexual activity between men over the age of 18.
The penalty was imprisonment or a loss of civil rights.
Added by bradcoffey106  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex marriage in Germany

?

Same-sex marriage in Germany is legal.

Current status
Since Oct 1, 2017
Legal
A bill for marriage equality passed the Bundestag on 30 June 2017 and the Bundesrat on 7 July, becoming law on 1 October.
Paragraph 1353 of the German Civil Code.

Aug 1, 2001–Sep 30, 2017
Civil unions
Germany recognizes civil unions and provides tax benefits to couples in a civil union.
Sources:
web.archive.org/web/2012011…//www.bverfg.de/entscheidungen/ls20020717_1bvf000101.html
Added by bradcoffey106  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Censorship of LGBT Issues in Germany

?

Censorship of LGBT Issues in Germany is no censorship.

Current status
No censorship
Article 5 of the German Basic Law guarantees freedom of press, speech and opinion.
Added by equaldex  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Right to change legal gender in Germany

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Right to change legal gender in Germany is legal, but requires medical diagnosis.

Current status
Since 1981
Legal, but requires medical diagnosis
Following the amendment of the Act on the Amendment of Names and Sex Determination in Special Cases, known as the Law on Transsexuality (1981) by Judgment No. 1 BvR 3295/07 (2011) of the Federal Constitutional Court, the criteria for changing the name or both the name and the gender marker were unified. Currently, the law requires applicants to (i) prove that "due to their transsexual status, they do not feel comfortable with their sex registered at birth", (ii) they have lived for at least three years "in accordance with the gender they identify with" and (iii) that their "situation of transexuality is foreseeably stable". This procedure is carried out before a municipal judge, which has to verify that these requirements are met by subjecting the applicant to an examination carried out by two expert witnesses "specialised in transsexualism". (ILGA)

In 2017, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSJ) commissioned the Humboldt University in Berlin to prepare an expert opinion on the "need for regulation and reform for transgender people".
It found that the current assessment procedure is in many cases characterized by disproportionate time and expense as well as degrading and discriminatory experiences and violates the fundamental rights of the applicants.

The non-governmental organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Transidentität und Intersexualität e.V. (dgti) issues a supplemental ID card which contains one's self-chosen first names, pronouns and gender before a legal name change has taken place. It is known and accepted by German ministries, the police, and many authorities. The supplemental ID card is often a condition to correct one's name at, among others, schools, universities, banks and insurance companies. In five German states, references to the ID have been included in coronavirus ordinances and associated explanations to recognize it as an identification document, e.g., together with vaccination certificates.
It has a special status of recognition in Germany. The legal basis of the supplemental ID card is the implementation of the request of the European Parliament, communicated in the 11th legislative period of the German parliament.

Sep 10, 1980–Jan 28, 2011
Legal, but requires surgery
Section 8 § 1 of the German Transsexuellengesetz (Transsexuals Act of September 10, 1980) states that transgender people can change their first names and gender entry under the condition of gender-affirming surgery, sterilization, and divorce.
Added by murrayhawthorne  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Germany

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Legal recognition of non-binary gender in Germany is intersex only.

Current status
Since Jan 1, 2018
Intersex only
The Civil Status Act (PStG) was amended to include Parapraph 45b to allow intersex people to identify themselves as "diverse" ("divers") or remove the gender entry.

Germany is introducing a law (Selbstbestimmungsgesetz) that will allow transgender and non-binary people to change their legal first names and gender identity once a year through self-identification.
If the legislation passes, transgender and non-binary people in Germany will no longer require psychological evaluations to legally change their name and gender.
In this newly presented Self-Determination Act, from the age of 14, minors may make the declaration themselves with the consent of their guardians. In order to protect the personal rights of young people, the family court can replace the parents' decision at the request of the minor in cases where the custodians do not consent, based on the best interests of the child.
Children under 14 will need their parents or guardians to make a registry office application on their behalf.
Added by chae  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT discrimination in Germany

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LGBT discrimination in Germany is illegal.

Current status
Since Jun 29, 2006
Illegal
National law was amended in 2006 when the Treaty of Amsterdam was signed - giving all people the same rights under law.

The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany clarified in 1 BvR 2019/16 that the general right of personality (Article 2 (1) in conjunction with Article 1 (1) of the Basic Law) protects gender identity. It also protects the gender identity of non-binary people.
Article 3 (3) of the Basic Law includes non-binary people on the protection against discrimination on ground of their gender.

LGBT employment discrimination in Germany

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LGBT employment discrimination in Germany is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since 2006
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Due to Germany being a Federal Republic many states have had anti-discrimination laws as early as 1992. But by signing the Treaty of Amsterdam (EU) Germany amended its national anti-discrimination laws to include sexual orientation.
Added by murrayhawthorne  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

LGBT housing discrimination in Germany

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LGBT housing discrimination in Germany is sexual orientation and gender identity.

Current status
Since Aug 18, 2006
Sexual orientation and gender identity
Section 1 of the General Act on Equal Treatment (Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz, AGG) prohibits discrimination on housing.
Added by joe  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Same-sex adoption in Germany

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Same-sex adoption in Germany is legal.

Current status
Since Oct 1, 2017
Legal
Section 1741 of the German Civil Code grants all married couples the right to adopt children.
Added by chae  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Feb 19, 2013–Sep 30, 2017
Step-child adoption only
Same-sex couples in Germany can legally adopt a step-child, biological or not of the other partner.
Added by bradcoffey106  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Serving openly in military in Germany

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Serving openly in military in Germany is legal.

Current status
Since 2000
Legal
Article 3 (1) of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms protect against unequal treatment on grounds of sexual orientation.
Added by murrayhawthorne  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Blood donations by MSMs in Germany

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Blood donations by MSMs in Germany is legal.

Current status
Since Apr 1, 2023
Legal
On April 1 2023, the Transfusion Act (Transfusionsgesetz, TFG) was amended to fully remove restrictions on blood donations by MSMs.
Accordingly, the amendment to the law is obliging the German Medical Association to subsequently adapt the blood donation guidelines within four months in agreement with the Paul Ehrlich Institute, Germany’s medical regulatory body.
Added by Samanthos  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Sep 24, 2021–Apr 1, 2023
Legal with restrictions
On September 24, 2021, new guidelines were introduced. Men in monogamous relationships with men can donate blood with no deferral.

However, men who have sex with men outside of a monogamous relationship still face a 4 month deferral.
Added by beeurd  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Aug 7, 2017–Sep 24, 2021
Banned (1-year deferral)
A 1-year deferral was in effect.
Added by Ausyk  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Until Aug 7, 2017
Banned (indefinite deferral)
Banned up until 2017.
Sources:
(sources in German language)
zeit.de/wissen/2010-06/schw…
Added by xevu  ·  1 accurate vote  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Conversion therapy in Germany

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Conversion therapy in Germany is banned.

Current status
Since Jun 24, 2020
Banned
The Law for the Protection Against Conversion Treatments (KonvBehSchG) bans providing, arranging and advertising conversion therapy. Conducting conversion therapy on minors, or persons of legal age is those whose consent was obtained without their volition, is also explicitly banned.

Providing, arranging or advertising conversion therapy is punishable by a fine up to €30,000.
Carrying out conversion therapy on a minor, or an adult whose consent was obtained without their volition, is punishable by up to a year of imprisonment or a fine.
Added by myri  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log

Equal age of consent in Germany

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Equal age of consent in Germany is equal.

Current status
Since 1988
Equal
The age of consent of 14 years is equal for everyone.
Added by James  ·  0 accurate votes  ·  Report Error  ·  Log