LGBT Rights in Germany

Homosexuality
⚢
✔ Legal
Marriage
⚭
✔ Legal
Changing Gender
✔ Legal, surgery not required
Adoption
✖ Step-child adoption only
Discrimination
✔ Illegal
Employment Discrimination
✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
Housing Discrimination
✔ Sexual orientation and gender identity
Military
✔ Legal
Donating Blood
✖ Banned (indefinite deferral)
Age of Consent
✔ Equal
Conversion Therapy
✖ Not banned

Public Opinion

"Should Society Accept Homosexuality?"

Germany ranks #2 out of 39 countries surveyed. (Source: Pew Research Center, June 4, 2013)

(11%) No

Yes (87%)

By The Numbers

60^%

of Muslims in Germany approve of gay marriage

(The Religion Monitor Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2015)

History

Homosexual activity in Germany

Current status
(since 1969)

Legal

East Germany decriminalized homosexual behavior in 1968, West Germany followed suit in 1969.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

1935–1950

Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)

Paragraph 175 was amended during Nazi rule to create harsher penalties for homosexual behavior. Imprisonment was to range from three (3) months to ten (10) years in prison. Many homosexual men died in the Nazi concentration camps they were sent to.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

1871–1935

Illegal (imprisonment as punishment)

No minimum or maximum sentences given.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Same-sex marriage in Germany

Oct 1, 2017–-0001

Legal

A bill for legalisation passed the Bundestag on 30 June 2017 and the Bundesrat on 7 July

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Current status
(since Oct 1, 2017)

Legal

Same-sex marriage has been legal since 1 October 2017, after the Bundestag passed legislation giving same-sex couples full marital and adoption rights on 30 June 2017. Prior to that, registered partnerships were available to same-sex couples, having been legalised in 2001.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Right to change legal gender in Germany

Current status
(since Jan 28, 2011)

Legal, surgery not required

The German Constitutional Court found the provision that required surgery to change one's legal gender unconstitutional.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Sep 10, 1980–Jan 28, 2011

Legal, but requires surgery

Germans can change their name and gender. Article 1 of Transsexuellengesetz (Transsexuals Act of 10 September 1980)

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Same-sex adoption in Germany

Feb 19, 2013–Aug 22, 2018

Legal

Will become legal in 2019. Full legalization pending.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

Current status
(since Feb 19, 2013)

Step-child adoption only

Same-sex couples in Germany can legally adopt a step-child, biological or not of the other partner.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

LGBT discrimination in Germany

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.

Details · Accurate? Yes No

LGBT employment discrimination in Germany

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.

Details · Accurate? Yes No