Germany just apologized to gay men in a BIG way, and it’s about time
Today in amazing news, apparently the German government is recognizing the way it harmed gay men in the past with laws that made gay sex illegal. The Advocate says that, as a result of this history, Germany is now planning to make reparations those imprisoned as a result of the homophobic law. Like, whoa.
In Germany, sodomy (aka gay sex) was illegal until 1994 under Paragraph 175, The Advocate explains.
The payout is estimated to be around 30 million Euros. Not only that, but the government will expunge the records of the 50,000 gay men jailed as a result of the homophobic law, which is seriously incredible. On one hand, it’s about freakin’ time, but on the other, we’re just glad apologies are being made.
Germany’s justice minister, Heiko Maas explained,
“We will never be able to remove these outrages committed by this country but we want to rehabilitate the victims."
Maas continued,
“The convicted homosexual men should no longer have to live with the black mark of a criminal conviction.
Like, TG. It makes zero sense that homosexuality was ever criminalized, but it continues to be punishable by jail time (or worse) in many countries. While it may seem like we’ve come so far from our more flawed past, it’s *so* important to recognize the ways we still fail queer and trans people to make sure we can fight for justice and equality for all.
