Justice Minister wants LGBTQ+ rights in German constitution

Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig has said she is in favour of extending the German constitution to protect people against discrimination on the basis of sexual identity.

Hubig: Adding LGBTQ+ rights to constitution is “logical”

Legal protections against discrimination for LGBTQ+ people in Germany are back in the spotlight following the terrorist attack on Christopher Street Day (CSD) in late July.

Now, Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) has said she would like to see the German constitution, also known as the Basic Law or Grundgesetz, expanded to better protect LGBTQ+ residents.

“I am for expanding Article 3, Paragraph 3, of the Basic Law to include a ban on discrimination based on sexual identity,” Hubig said in an interview with Rheinische Post.

Article 3 of the constitution currently states that “No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of gender, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions."

LGBTQ+ people in Germany are currently protected against discrimination by the General Act on Equal Treatment (AGG). The Act was adopted in 2006 when EU anti-discrimination directives were incorporated into German law.

But Hubig believes protections for LGBTQ+ people should be included in the country’s definitive legal framework. “It is logical,” said Hubig, “that the constitution should also forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual identity”. 

German gov’t to discuss constitutional amendment

The minister explained that she still needed to convince CDU/CSU members of the coalition of the importance of expanding Article 3 and that the government would soon enter discussions.

In the wake of the attack, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said the German government would “do everything to protect and defend the freedom, the openness and the liberalism of our society”, that “statements alone are not enough” and the government would respond with “composure" and “resolve”. 

Now, Hubig is calling on Merz to “fill [his] words with life”. If the government agrees to make the constitutional amendment, it will require support from at least two-thirds of MPs to do so.

The CDU is not generally associated with the push to expand LGBTQ+ rights in Germany. Just last year, Merz dismissed proposals to fly the Pride flag from parliament during Pride month, saying “The Bundestag is not a circus tent”.

Raising the flag during Pride month had been a tradition since 2022, until Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) ordered rainbow flags to be removed from public offices.