New issue of “Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte” (APUZ), featuring an article on “Marriage”
“Who we love and with whom we (can) live together is a profoundly social matter. But which forms of relationships are protected by the state, and which are not? According to Article 6, Paragraph 1 of the German Basic Law (GG), ‘marriage and the family (…) are under the special protection of the state.’ When the Basic Law was adopted in 1949, this protection applied exclusively to opposite-sex married couples and their children, even though neither Article 6 of the Basic Law nor the relevant sections of the Civil Code explicitly define marriage as a heterosexual partnership. As a result, a historically and socially constructed, extra-legal form of life was established as a state-protected social order, even though the underlying social reality was more diverse and remains subject to ongoing change to this day. In light of the growing diversity of lifestyles and family forms, fundamental questions of equality arise. Against this backdrop, how should the opening of marriage to same-sex couples in Germany in 2017 be assessed? Has it led to equality now also being achieved for LGBTIQ+ individuals?”
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