Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 19:32:12 -0700 (PDT) From: "Gerald Pilz" Subject: GERMANY: details about the Green Party platform on gays and lesbians Below you find a short summary of the political program of the Green party for gays and lesbians. The Green party has the following objectives for lesbians and gays: a full same-sex marriage with all rights and privileges (including adoption, artificial insemination, residence permits for binational couples), equal rights for unmarried (gay or straight) couples, an improved asylum legislation, an immigration law and a better naturalization law (including dual citizenship), a broad and comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation, a cultural and political program for the promotion of a gay and lesbian lifestyle in the public (education, mass media, career opportunities), social and legal rehabilitation of gay victims (from the past) and compensation for victims of homophobic violence, introduction of anti-violence projects. The Social Democrats emphasized that they would prefer a "life partnership" (a Scandinavian like registered partnership) with comparable rights. The coalition negotiations between the two parties will begin on Friday. Gerald The political program of the Green party: No more marginalization of minorities Reform of our citizenship laws is long overdue. Anyone who has been living for a long time in Germany or was born here should be entitled to acquire German citizenship. Integration of first-generation and, indeed, second-generation migrants will not succeed without the option of double citizenship. We also want all foreigners residing permanently in Germany to be accorded more or less equal status with resident aliens from EU member states. We are campaigning for better protection of refugees. Full implementation of the Geneva Convention and the European Human Rights Convention is called for. The laws on political asylum procedure must be changed to allow this. Torture, gender-specific persecution of women, and persecution of homosexuals because of their sexual orientation should be recognized as political persecution. We are in favour of independent residence rights for foreign spouses. The marginalization engendered by the asylum seekers' benefits law must come to an end. Deportation of children and adolescents born in Germany and young adults who have grown up here must stop. Equal rights and freedom of choice for all lifestyles A liberal society does not tell people how to run their lives. Same-sex partners should have the same opportunities to formalize their relationships as do heterosexual couples. That means the right to conclude a marriage and the provision of a legal framework for unmarried couples. We want to introduce an anti-discrimination law to protect people with a handicap and other disadvantaged groups. This gives them an effective means to defend themselves against hostility and discrimination. --- RON BUCKMIRE http://abacus.oxy.edu/~ron/ Asst. Prof., Math Dept., Occidental College, 1600 Campus Road, L.A., CA 90041 ron@abacus.oxy.edu||+1 213 259 2536 (v)||+1 213 259 2958 (f)||Gore-Boxer 2000 Look for it in the