Its very progressive but I do not see a reason to celebrate. Lots of Nazis (It was a joke calm down for those who didn't take it as one)
I'm not in the mood to party. It's too early to party. There is a constitutional suit to come for sure. I'm a lawyer myself but I have no clue if a constitutional suit against the law is going to be successful or not. I'm also more sad than happy because I'm shocked to see how conservative this country still is. The statements of conservative politicians are unbearable. Same with comments people made on the street in front of the camera for the news. And all those haters commenting online - it's just digusting. No, I'm not happy.
As there is no like button, just wanted to say, I love this comment. May I ask if you know which part of the German constitution could be used to overturn gay marriage?
What the bill the parliament passed on friday basically does, is change one paragraph in the "Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch" (civil law code). Thereby they redefine the meaning of the term marriage to "marriage is formed by two persons of different or same sex for lifetime". Then there's article 6 of the "Grundgesetz" (constitution) which says that "marriage and family are under special protection by the state" (not sure if that's the official translation). Some conservatives say that when the constitution was written in 1949, what the writers meant by "marriage" was the union of a man and a woman. And when we interpret the constitution, we have to account for what its writers meant by "marriage". Others say that, as this is not written anywhere, "marriage" is a term that is subject to social change. In the past, the husband also had to agree before a woman could go to work. So why should we be able to change that law without changing the constitution, but shouldn't be able to open marriage for same-sex couples?
Those comments also make me really sad. However, I try not to let them bother me to much, because after all, the vast majority of Germans is in favor of the "Ehe für alle". But as usual, those who disagree with the decision scream louder. I'm not saying that parts of this country aren't still terribly conservative. Anyway, a lot of things have changed for the better in the last couple of years. As the younger generations are on average more open-minded than the older ones, I'm optimistic that this trend is going to continue.
While the arguments of those still against it make me sick, I'm glad we finally got marriage equality. I hope it's going to stay like this as well. For now, I'm going to let myself be happy and try not to worry. The majority is in favour of it, we have to hope that even conservative people in power are not going to go against that.
It's a step in the right direction for certain. Hopefully the opposition is just a vocal minority that will learn in time. I used to be one of those. It's possible.