Overview
- Ferda Ataman, the federal independent anti‑discrimination commissioner, on Wednesday called for a Bundestag vote to amend Article 3 to explicitly add “sexuelle Identität” as a protected characteristic.
- The proposed change would name sexual identity in Article 3(3) of the Basic Law, which already lists specific protected traits such as sex, origin and religion.
- The Bundesrat approved a Berlin‑led draft in September 2025 and the Bundestag held a first reading of a text‑identical Greens bill in October 2025 before the measure was sent to the legal committee and showed no public progress until now.
- Thorsten Frei, leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, has publicly opposed adding sexual identity to the constitution but figures inside the Union such as the Berlin mayor and the LSU dissent from Frei’s view, making a free vote a possible path to the required two‑thirds majority.
- Supporters cite widespread reports of everyday discrimination to justify the amendment and say the government must also implement its Aktionsplan for queer life to provide concrete protection beyond constitutional wording.