Johannes Singhammer, a member of the CSU and vice president of the Bundestag, told public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday that "marriage for all," as it's known in Germany, "mustn't pass." Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke with "Brigitte" journalists in front of a live audience at Berlin's Gorki Theater on Monday Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.
And opponents still believe that growing up with two parents of the same gender could harm a child's development.
One reason for such opposition - and part of a complex political and cultural landscape surrounding same-sex marriage - is that full marriage rights would likely grant homosexual couples full adoption rights as well. But the conservative CDU has traditionally opposed gay marriage, as has its Bavarian sibling party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The likely support from some of Merkel's more liberal Christian Democrats (CDU) representatives, along with members of the coalition-partner Social Democrats and members of the opposition Greens and the Left Party, means a law to give homosexual couples the right to marry is almost certain to pass. What seemed unlikely a short while ago became reality when, at an event hosted by the women's magazine Brigitte on Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was not completely opposed to legislation allowing same-sex partners marriage, describing such a vote as a "matter of conscience." It looks like members of Germany's parliament will vote Friday on whether to pass a marriage equality law.