The German government approved a law according to which gays and lesbians who were discharged from the German army, who were discriminated against because of their orientation, will be paid monetary compensation, and they will also be able to undergo rehabilitation. Deutsche Welle became aware of this.
The draft law of the German Ministry of Defense was adopted on November 25.
According to the newspaper, each victim will be paid 3000 euros (about 269 thousand rubles). The innovation concerns not only the servicemen of the Bundeswehr (the German army), but also those who were enlisted in the ranks of the National People’s Army of the GDR.
About a thousand people who were once subjected to forced sexual contact in the army will count on rehabilitation and monetary compensation, the newspaper writes citing the Ministry of Defense of Germany.
Formally, all the verdicts of the tribunal, passed under article 175 of the German Criminal Code on homosexual intercourse by mutual consent, will be canceled. It is noted that the punishments were canceled back in 1994, but orders that deprived homosexuals of career prospects continued to operate in the German army until the 2000s.
According to the deputy official representative of the FRG government Martina Fitz, it was previously believed that non-traditional orientations “pose a threat to the maintenance of army discipline.” “From today’s perspective, this kind of discrimination is against fundamental human rights,” she said.