Friday 30 June 2017

ehe für alle

Of course there’s pragmatism and politics behind the passage of equality of marriage for everyone as some wonkier kill-joys are pointing out but it’s also pride month and the Chancellor herself states she had a change of heart by an encounter with an inspiring lesbian couple (despite voting against the measure) and there has been overwhelming public support for the issue for a long time.
Critics are not particularly upset with the issue at hand and knew it was inevitable to join the rest of the European community where it’s already been legalised for some time: Denmark (with the exception of the Faroe Islands), Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, Portugal, Ireland and the UK (minus Jersey and Northern Ireland)—but rather because by reaching out to her opposition, the Chancellor is making politics too boring by defusing any real stakes and ensuring she holds onto office due to voter apathy. That’s strange logic but the measure nonetheless that passed with typical German efficiency insofar as it was not even on the legislative agenda until earlier in the week.  Though civil union status has been accorded to same-sex couples in Germany since 2001 and extended most of the benefits and rights of matrimony to same-sex partners, being equal in the eyes of the law creates uniformity in inheritance, taxation and adoption. Gut gemacht, Deutschland!