Just a short time ago, the Bundestag, which is the lower house of the German Parliament, voted overwhelmingly to legalize marriage equality, even though Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and the so-called leader of the free world, voted against marriage equality:
Germany’s parliament has voted to legalise same-sex marriage by 399 votes to 226, despite Angela Merkel opposing the move.
The German Chancellor was seen voting with a “red card”, indicating a no vote, at the end of a heated debate in the Bundestag.
Ms Merkel had freed her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) from the party whip on the issue, calling for a “vote of conscience”.
This is a major victory for LGBT people and for human rights in Germany, and a stunning, but welcome, rejection of Chancellor Merkel’s homophobia and disdain for LGBT rights. As a matter of fact, Merkel allowed a free vote on the German marriage equality bill in an apparent attempt to maintain her own political power.
Merkel’s vote against marriage equality comes not long after Merkel, who is the head of government of the most populous country in the European Union, began being referred to as the leader of the free world by people like American neoliberal political pundit Joan Walsh. When it comes to LGBT rights, Merkel is just as awful as American anti-LGBT extremists like Donald Trump and Mike Pence. One cannot be a leader of the free world without supporting basic human rights, including full marriage equality.