Germany Mulls Adding Sexual Identity to Constitution After Berlin Attack

Stephanie Hubig, Germany's justice minister, said in an interview published Sunday with the daily Rheinische Post that amending the Basic Law would send a strong signal of protection to the LGBTQ community. On July 25, Abdul Balut, 21, who had attempted to join the Islamic State (IS) extremist group, drove a van into pedestrians at the Christopher Street Day (CSD) event in Berlin before attacking people with a machete, killing one woman and injuring 29 others. The suspect was shot dead by police the following day.

Hubig noted that the LGBTQ community has recently been exposed to serious hostility and violence, arguing that it is logical for the constitution to prohibit discrimination based on sexual identity. Article 3, Paragraph 3 of the current Basic Law bans discrimination based on ancestry, sex, language, origin, faith, religion, political opinion, and disability, but does not explicitly mention sexual identity.