4 of the 9 experts heard, among them Susanne Baer, German ECSOL-member, and Helmut Graupner, ECSOL-co-coordinator, supported inclusion of „sexual identity“ as an explicitly protected ground into the constitution’s equality clause. They pointed out that homo- and bisexual women and men are the last of the main target-groups of the national-socialists regime, which is not yet explicitly protected by this clause, while the Charta of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and numerous national constitutions in Europe and outside of Europe explicitly do protect sexual orientation.

The other 5 experts objected to the constitutional amendment and argued that such an amendment could lead to same-sex marriage, to joint adoption of same-sex couples and even to legalisation of pedophilia and polygamy. And it has been voiced that integration of Muslims into German society could be compromised. Upon naturalization, so the argument, new German citizens have to accept the constitution, and for religious Muslims it would be much harder to do that if the constitution would explicitly protect homosexuals.

All three female experts supported the amendment but only one of the six male experts.

The written testimonies of the experts and, soon, also the minutes of the hearing can be found at www.bundestag.de.

Written testimony of Susanne Baer
Written testimony of Helmut Graupner