From the DW:
“Germany promises to atone for
discrimination of gay soldiers”
The Defense Ministry says it
wants to make good decades of discrimination against homosexual troops. Even after
homosexual acts were made legal, LGBT+ soldiers were still long seen as a risk.
Germany is planning to rehabilitate soldiers who were discriminated against in
past years by being rejected for promotion or even fired from the army because
of their homosexuality, the Defense Ministry announced. The ministry said it
intends to present a draft bill in September to address the injustices done to
those soldiers who had been subjected to punitive measures by military
disciplinary courts. In some cases, gay, bisexual, lesbian and transgender
(LGBT+) soldiers have been disadvantaged with respect to their peers by
receiving a lower salary or pension because they were refused promotions. A law
preventing homosexuals from becoming professional soldiers or taking on tasks
as superiors or leadership positions remained in force till July 3, 2000. According
to the Defense Ministry website, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer
told groups representing LGBT+ personnel in the Bundeswehr in March that
homosexual members of the German army had been unjustly treated for decades. "I
am sorry for this practice, which was standard policy at the time. I apologize
to those who had to suffer under it," she said.
Long legal discrimination: But Kramp-Karrenbauer said times had changed
and the Bundeswehr as well. "Today, it is not about tolerance. It is about
respect, appreciation and esteem. That is why it is important and right to come
to terms with the past, initiate processes of change and open the Bundeswehr
for a new way of thinking," she said. Homosexual acts among men were
illegal in Germany up to the end of the 1960s, and soldiers could be found
guilty by military tribunals of "unnatural sexual offenses." Such a
verdict could lead to soldiers being demoted or fired, while in civilian courts
homosexuals could be punished with up to five years' imprisonment. But even
after the law against homosexual acts was completely removed from the penal
code in 1994, the Bundeswehr continued to consider homosexuals a risk to
military security. It was only in 2000 that lesbian, gay and bisexual soldiers
were officially permitted in the army and a decree introduced urging
"tolerance" toward gays and other sexual minorities. Transgender
people were allowed to serve openly from 2014.
^ The Soldiers who were discriminated against by their own Military and Government for being Gay should have their records cleared. ^
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-promises-to-atone-for-discrimination-of-gay-soldiers/a-54048090
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