German chancellor Angela Merkel barely ever misses an opportunity to highlight Germany’s exemplary function when it comes to social values and tolerance–often conveniently ignoring that other European countries are frequently ahead in ensuring that laws are passed to curb discrimination of women, minorities and other groups too often left behind.
This is not to say that everything is bad in the EU’s largest member state. Germany did, for example, take in the second largest amount of war refugees per capita after Sweden. But in other areas Germany is still a rather slow-moving creature:
For more than a decade now conservative powers in the country voiced their concern about the prospect of marriage equality and the right for same-sex couples to adopt children. The arguments mostly being the same fear mongering that you’ll find all over the world as soon as these subjects are brought up.
From gay marriage leading to bestiality to gay couples not being able to provide a stable family for kids (while 40% of straight marriages in Germany getting divorced doesn’t seem to be an issue).
Meanwhile it would be as easy as just taking a look at Germany’s neighbours to figure out that society did not dissolve into an anarchistic mess after gay marriage was legalised nor are children being eaten alive by the loving same-sex couples who were allowed to adopt them. The Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, France and many other countries are doing just fine despite achieving marriage equality in some cases over a decade ago.
But things are finally getting in motion it seems. With general elections happening in less than three months campaigns are in full swing and within the last few days something interesting transpired.
German politics usually go like this: Merkel’s party, The Christian Democrats (CDU) win the elections and the only question after is which other party gets to join them in a coalition to form the government. Currently three parties are likely candidates to partner up with the CDU: The Social Democrats (SPD), the Green Party (Grüne) and the Liberals (FDP).
All three of these parties recently announced that they will not be available for a coalition unless marriage equality will be part of the new government’s program thereby forcing Merkel and her party to give up their longstanding resistance against same-sex marriage unless they want to look like damn fools after the elections.
So while Merkel is reaping much praise right now for turning around on the issue, she basically did what she always does: Waiting for the very last, opportune moment to change her mind when party politics demand it.
Better late than never; better with the bitter aftertaste of political opportunism than not at all. Germany is arriving in the future and that’s a good thing.