Gay marriage doesn't hurt hetero marriage

Since August 1 ten years ago, same-sex couples have been allowed to register as life partnerships in Germany. This shows the extent to which the stance of legislators has changed considering that homosexual acts were once a punishable offence, the left-liberal daily Süddeutsche Zeitung observes: "It wouldn't occur to anyone with any political clout nowadays to abolish the law. On the contrary: all recent court rulings are moving towards putting homosexual partnerships on the same footing as marriage. Only a year ago the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that gay and lesbian couples may not be left at a disadvantage regarding inheritance tax. Only tax laws and adoption laws still make a distinction between marriages and registered partnerships - and it is to be expected that these differences will decrease and in the end disappear entirely. ... The life partnership legislation is a law against the society of singles' lacking willingness to commit. It doesn't detract from marriage."

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