German minister says same-sex marriage will have ‘consequences’ like incest
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that same-sex marriage in German would have “far-reaching consequences”.
A member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, she made the remarks in an interview with Saarbrücker Zeitung.
She said: “This is more than symbolism. This raises the question of whether we want to change our society, with possibly far-reaching consequences. We have in Germany a clear definition of marriage as a union of men and women.
“When we open this definition to a stable long-term relationship of two grown men, other people can not be excluded: such a marriage among close relatives or of more than two people. Do we want that really?”
However, she also said: “We all agree that existing discrimination between marriage and life partnership must be eliminated.”
Following referendum in the Republic of Ireland, German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced calls for her government to catch up and introduce equality with opposition Green leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt directly calling on Merkel to act.. She made it clear she had no plans for Germany to follow suit.
A spokesman said: “Every country makes its own laws – some countries go one route while others go another. In Germany we’ll take a path that suits Germany.”
