• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Germany passes law for Same-Sex-Marriage

GAMEPROFF

Banned
People criticizing merkel dont understand that she was one of the factors why this was possible. Merkel allowed the CDU congressman to vote freely which is the sole reason why this was possible. If she insisted on a partyline the vote would have been very close (in particular because some congressmen are already in their vacation and some are sick)
How was she the factor when her party tried to block the vote? She is party leader and cancellor, your party doesnt work against you in this case
 

Xando

Member
Yeah, I've got huge respect for the SPD for punching it trough like that.
You mean the same SPD that got this into the coalition treaty 4 years ago and never bothered with it until Merkel said it’s ok?

How was she the factor when her party tried to block the vote? She is party leader and cancellor, your party doesnt work against you in this case
She has huge power over the SPD. Why do you think they waited until she said it’s ok?
 

Harlequin

Member
It stands to reason that she maybe only voted that to cater to a specific part of her party (CSU like Schäuble etc.) And germanies citizens knowing that her vote wouldn't make a difference (cos everybody knew this is going to pass)

But in either case, germanies most famous and supposedly one of the worlds most powerful people voting against it doesn't send good vibes definitely.

Even the US managed to openly have the president endorse LBGT under Obama.

That said, the vote passed, that's what matters the most.

I don't think that she only voted against it to please conservative voters/members of her party. From everything she's said over the years, I think she's genuinely got a problem with the idea of same-sex marriage and the only reasons she's now let it come to a vote are that a) she's run out of pseudo-rational excuses to oppose it and b) she knew that it was going to happen sooner or later and knew that her biggest opponent would use it as a weapon against her in the upcoming elections (and Germany's two big parties have become so similar on so many issues that taking away this one distinguishing feature isn't as insignificant as one might think).

I also doubt that she's the most famous German. Both Albert Einstein and Hitler are bound to be more (in)famous than her (and maybe a few others I can't think of right now :p). Unless you meant most famous living German.
 

Harlequin

Member
People criticizing merkel dont understand that she was one of the factors why this was possible. Merkel allowed the CDU congressman to vote freely which is the sole reason why this was possible. If she insisted on a partyline the vote would have been very close (in particular because some congressmen are already in their vacation and some are sick)

No, Merkel is a big part of the reason for why it took so long in the first place. She could've done that years ago. Her finally deciding to do it now for strategical reasons is cetainly not praiseworthy.
 
Kurz is against it because Schüssel and Pröll are against it. He, just like all the other faces the ÖVP has gone through in the past 10 years, are mere puppets made out of hot air. The "renewal" of the ÖVP's extent goes as far as installing Kurz as the leader, opening the list up to non-ÖVP candidates and using the colour turquoise instead of black.
I do find the choice of colour as a "blue light" quite amusing...
The difference is that Kurz is the first ÖVP head that succeeded with his power play in ages. All the others eventually had to go because of party strife, he disbanded the party essentially.
You should expect the party to be better as a result but it's the same old garbage conservative party still.
 

oti

Banned
I agree. Which shows the SPD approved it for campaign reasons rather than some deep conviction

Maybe it's both.

In the end all of this is good.

The law passed, let's hope the constitution says it's legit.

If you're a Conservative, there you go. Now you know where Merkel stands in this discussion. So go vote for her and not for the AfD.

If you're a Progressive, there you go. Now you know where the SPD stands and that it can outplay Merkel if they see the chance. So go vote for them and not The Linke.

If you're gay and want to marry your significant other, CONGRATULATIONS!
 

Shiggy

Member
Some politicians argued that the bond between men and women needs special treatment as it leads to children. But that's also ignoring reality as a lot of people with children haven't married. It would make much more sense to cut tax benefits related to marriage and link them to whether a couple has children or whether they don't.


Her voting no makes me confident that at least this time she won't get credit for something good that other parties did. At least this time, please.

I'd be surprised if it played a role in future discussions. For most it's not a topic that changes their vote anyway as it doesn't affect them.
 

Phamit

Member
People criticizing merkel dont understand that she was one of the factors why this was possible. Merkel allowed the CDU congressman to vote freely which is the sole reason why this was possible. If she insisted on a partyline the vote would have been very close (in particular because some congressmen are already in their vacation and some are sick)

It would have been very close, but the voting result shows, that even without CDU/CSU people the Vote would have been successful
 
Y'all knew this gif was coming. :p

penny-dance-party.gif


Congrats Germany! :D
 

Fliesen

Member
The difference is that Kurz is the first ÖVP head that succeeded with his power play in ages. All the others eventually had to go because of party strife, he disbanded the party essentially.
You should expect the party to be better as a result but it's the same old garbage conservative party still.

This. There's a reason that there had been this initial euphoria by conservative center-right voters about Kurz. (polling at a record 30% early this week)

He's young. He's somewhat charismatic (more charismatic than, say, Molterer, Spindelegger and many that came before him). He's got the "unquestioned support of the party" (instead of the other way around, him being a puppet to the Landeshauptleute).

People had high hopes that he would actually deliver on the promise of renewing the ÖVP. But yesterday's vote made the party show their true colors, which aren't teal, but deep-deep black.

I think, politically, that was a bad move. The conservative base would have voted black even if they had gone along with marriage equality. Social progressive ÖVP voters might not forgive this block, a very significant gesture, all that easily. Voting yes on marriage equality would have swayed many NEOS voters back to the ÖVP, as it would have been a strong signal of "see, we're not the shitty conservative old-people party anymore"
Forcing them to put their cards on the table like that was a rather smart move by the other parties.
 
The difference is that Kurz is the first ÖVP head that succeeded with his power play in ages. All the others eventually had to go because of party strife, he disbanded the party essentially.
You should expect the party to be better as a result but it's the same old garbage conservative party still.

Nah, he didn't disband the party, he simply did the same thing Schüssel did way back when he took over, making it a tightly run ship. You can easily see the parallels between then and now, and it comes to no surprise that Schüssel is a close confidant of Kurz. But I doubt a 30-year-old has the political smarts to do that. He is very much an installation by Schüssel.

We really should make some sort of Austria GAF OT where we can talk about this kind of stuff.
 
I am a bit sad this was no "konstruktives Misstrauensvotum". Always easy to forget that we had a left majority for the last four years but instead enabled another Merkel term.

Our history in a nutshell since the MSPD/USPD schism. But tbh it could have been worse than the vicar's daughter from the East. (And it will be after September, I reckon.)
 

El-Suave

Member
Another reminder how petty party politics have held back progress for a long time.
This majority has existed for years, it was just a matter of the governing party holding the vote. It's mindblowing that this came so very much out of the blue and how quickly the law was passed. In a weird way it's also kind of sad when you think about other topics were voting is blocked for political reasons.
 

Shiggy

Member
Some notable CDU politicians voted for the bill:
Ursula von der Leyen (minister of defence)
Peter Tauber (Secretary General)
Peter Altmaier (former environmental minister, now chief of the German Chancellery)
Kristina Schroeder (former minister of family affairs)
 

mnz

Unconfirmed Member
why? disappointing shit right here
She's an old christian conservative. Of course she would vote against it!?

Congrats !
Does this automatically open up adoption for married gay couples or is another legislation needed ?
This is one of the big things this is about. Germany already had "registered partnerships" but adoption, taking names and things like that weren't part of it.
 

spons

Member
I'd like to come back to my vote for Merkel as the leader of the free world in that other thread. What a stinker. Muh party doctrine.

Congrats to all other Germans though.
 

Pezking

Member
She's Christian-conservative.

Merkel just acknowledged that § 6 of the constitution only refers to marriages between a man and a woman:

"Für mich ist die Ehe im Grundgesetz die Ehe von Mann und Frau", sagte die CDU-Vorsitzende mit Blick auf den besonderen Schutz der Ehe durch Artikel 6 des Grundgesetzes."

http://www.zeit.de/politik/2017-06/bundestag-stimmt-fuer-ehe-fuer-alle

Todays poll in the Bundestag only leads to changes in the German Civil Code. Some critics argue that this is technically not enough and a change of the constitution is also necessary.

I guess she just wants to pander to the party base by voting against. She knew she could do that because todays was a foregone conclusion.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
I knew Germany would vote yes on this :)

WTF Merkel. You know those silly "who is the leader of the free world" threads? Im putting Trudeau back in..
 

TeddyBoy

Member
Congratulations Germany!

So are same sex couples able to get married right now? Or does it come into effect at a certain date?
 

Fritz

Member
^they will have to pass legislation

I am a bit sad this was no "konstruktives Misstrauensvotum". Always easy to forget that we had a left majority for the last four years but instead enabled another Merkel term.

"Left" majority? That's like summing up the votes for CDU/CSU and AFD. Really disingenuous imho
 

Shiggy

Member
Todays poll in the Bundestag only leads to changes in the German Civil Code. Some critics argue that this is technically not enough and a change of the constitution is also necessary.

The president and, assuming that he'll let it go through, the Federal Constitutional Court will decide whether it's enough. There'll surely be someone who's going to Karlsruhe over this.



"Left" majority? That's like summing up the votes for CDU/CSU and AFD. Really disingenuous imho

Less than 3 months before the next election, that does indeed sound like one of the worst ideas.
 

cameron

Member
Merkel after the vote:
Speaking after the vote, Merkel said she had voted no on the issue, but that it had been important to put it to a vote of conscience.

"For me and the basic law, it's about the marriage of a woman and a man. That's why I voted against it," she said, adding that it had been an emotional debate for many in parliament, including herself.

"I hope that the vote today shows not only the mutual respect for different opinions but that this also leads to more peace and social cohesion as well," she said.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/europe/germany-gay-marriage-vote/index.html

But during friday's emotional parliamentary debate, one SPD lawmaker angrily criticised Merkel, accusing her of "pathetic and embarrassing" meandering on the issue.

"Mrs Merkel, thanks for nothing!" said Johannes Kahrs, a gay rights activist, charging that she had blocked progress on gay and lesbian rights for years.


He characterised her Monday-night comments as a "Schabowski moment" -- a reference to the communist East German official Guenter Schabowski, whose fumbling comments at a 1989 press conference sparked the mass rush to border crossings that brought down the Berlin Wall.
https://www.afp.com/en/news/824/germany-legalises-same-sex-marriage-merkel-votes-against
 

SilentRob

Member
People criticizing merkel dont understand that she was one of the factors why this was possible. Merkel allowed the CDU congressman to vote freely which is the sole reason why this was possible. If she insisted on a partyline the vote would have been very close (in particular because some congressmen are already in their vacation and some are sick)

No, this is absolutely wrong.

The only reason Merkel broke away from a definite, party-wide No was because every other party in the Bundestag openly stated that they would not work with the CDU after this year's election if they would not support same sex marriage. They 100% forced her to change gears to stay in power. This is on the opposition and the SPD finally growing some balls in light of the coming election.

What Merkel explicitely didn't want was this vote. The CDU/CSU and she specifically were pissed at the SPD charging ahead. BEcause what Merkel planned on was saying that she's technically fine with same-sex marriage, take a big election topic in favor of the SPD out of the equation and then worry about it after said election. SPD, however, used what she said to go "Well, then we can do it right now!" which was absolutely not Merkel's plan.
 

Fritz

Member
No, this is absolutely wrong.

The only reason Merkel broke away from a definite, party-wide No was because every other party in the Bundestag openly stated that they would not work with the CDU after this year's election if they would not support same sex marriage. They 100% forced her to change gears to stay in power. This is on the opposition and the SPD finally growing some balls in light of the coming election.

What Merkel explicitely didn't want was this vote. The CDU/CSU and she specifically were pissed at the SPD charging ahead. BEcause what Merkel planned on was saying that she's technically fine with same-sex marriage, take a big election topic in favor of the SPD out of the equation and then worry about it after said election. SPD, however, used what she said to go "Well, then we can do it right now!" which was absolutely not Merkel's plan.

Kinda agree. At least chronologically though she responded to the FDP and the SPD didn't react till after she had moved.
 

Doikor

Member
Voting against equal marriage is a definite black mark against her.

What did you expect from a conservative christian leading leading a party called Christian Democratic Union.

edit: This is/was a purely a tactical decision by Merkel to secure the next election. All the other parties had already said that they would not ally with CDU in the next government if Merkel did not let her party vote freely on this matter. This is required as alone CDU doesn't have the majority. Also takes a big counter point away from SPD in the next elections who have been pushing for this for a long time.
 
So if you go to a country in the EU where it's not legal, your marriage isn't recognized?

It depends on the country.
For instance, Estonia, while not allowing SSM, accepts a couple that got married outside of Estonia as such.
Austria on the other hand does not recognize any sort of SSM.
 

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
It would have been very close, but the voting result shows, that even without CDU/CSU people the Vote would have been successful

No, it would definitely have passed, but it wouldn't have come to a vote and currently it seems like CDU/CSU and the nazi party AfD will have more than half the seats in the parliament after the next election, so had it not come to the vote now, it would probably have taken at least 4 more years.
 
Top Bottom