A new push to legalize same-sex
marriage is taking shape in Germany.
Thomas Oppermann, head of the Social
Democratic Party's (SPD) parliamentary faction, told Der Spiegel
magazine that the issue would be raised at the next meeting of
Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition, of which the SPD is a
junior partner.
Katrin Goering-Eckardt, head of the
Green Party in parliament, said that her party would back the SPD on
the issue and ask for a public debate.
German Family Minister Manuela
Schwesig, a Social Democrat, backed the move in a statement. “It's
time for the conservatives to move on the issue. It must stop
putting the brakes on modernization,” she said.
Germany currently recognizes gay and
lesbian couples with civil partnerships, which do not include full
adoption rights.
Eighty-three percent of Germans support
same-sex marriage, according to a survey released in January.