Germany

Comment: discrimination-you can’t ban

For ten years the anti-discrimination act is now. But is discriminated against. How could it be otherwise? The idea of the law is absurd and immoral on top of that, says Jan D. Walter.

“All people are equal before the law.” It says So in article 3, paragraph 1 of the basic law. Actually, everything would be so said. But the article goes further and mentions certain criteria, such as gender, origin, and belief, because those people are nor discriminated against. (Due to a disability you must not be disadvantaged by the way only, but preferably.)

For decades, parliamentarians have wrestled with, the laws adjust, which contradict these principles – most prominently, the Amendments to the family law are: First the husbands was not taken in the decision-making rights over your women, and in 1970 the discrimination marital eliminated in relation to the legitimate children, in 2001 the equality of same-sex couples began with the life partnership law.

Is not completed the legal equality of all people. For military service, for example, can be required according to the basic law continue to be only men.

Prescribed equality is immoral

Instead of eliminating the remaining legal discrimination definitively, is now supposed to be for exactly ten years, the anti-discrimination law for de facto equality. Therefore, people must be treated not only before the law, i.e. by the state, but also in the private law area same.

DW editor Jan D. Walter

Really, the thought may be – into law, he is cast immoral. Because the infiltrated several other fundamental rights, for example: freedom of expression, the free development of personality, freedom of belief and the right to the property.

In principle, it is allowed to throw application documents without further examination in the trash, to refuse individuals access to their own restaurant or to be free to decide whom to rent his house or his apartment. And rightly so, because, otherwise, we should abolish consistently the private property way.

To force people to act contrary to their Belief, is prohibited by the basic law. It would be different, we would have to underline the freedom of our Canon of values. The anti-discrimination law out there, but all of these principles into its opposite – as soon as a specific motive behind it.

Thoughts are not punishable

In order to recognize the absurdity of this idea, it is sufficient to ask, how not to prove such a motive, if the “offender” admits it openly. This was also the authors of the law clearly. Therefore, you have to set it up so that a plaintiff must only present evidence to bring the accused to the burden of proof, he had decided not discriminatory. A presumption of innocence, there is not so here.

So no doubt about it: in a lump sum, discrimination is outmoded, narrow-minded, and – depending on the inhuman. Luckily, this is far-reaching consensus in Germany. Those who discriminate nevertheless, we can criticize, cut, denigrate, abuse or even contempt. But we can’t ban you from your opinion. The thoughts are free – as abhorrent as they may be.

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