Lesbians and Gays in the Union

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Basic data
Establishment date:	1998
Chairman:	Alexander Vogt
Deputy:	Charline Koehler Philipp Pohlmann Mario Röllig
Treasurer:	Uwe Bruchhausen
Federal Managing Director:	Konrad Bauer
Website:	www.lsu-online.de

The LSU ( Lesbians and Gays in the Union ) sees itself as representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersexual people ( LGBTI ) in the CDU and CSU and persons close to the Union . The LSU invites heterosexual people to work together with it for a non-discriminatory climate so that everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, is valued and respected as members of society.

history

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Foundation and first years

Homosexuals in the CDU and CSU came together for the first time in November 1997 in Cologne as "Gay Christian Democrats". The first loose associations existed in the (west) German cities as early as the mid-1990s. This was the first time that homosexual Union members appeared in public. Very soon afterwards they renamed themselves to the Association of "Lesbians and Gays in the Union" (LSU). The name makes the claim and obligation clear, namely on the one hand not only to speak and act for gays, and on the other hand not only to be the contact person for the CDU, but also for the CSU and the character of the "U", the union, the common and unifying to emphasize.

Waypoints

• In January 1999, scholarship holders from the CDU-affiliated Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) organized a seminar on their own for the first time on the subject of “The living situation of same-sex communities in our society”.
• Since 2003 (in Leipzig) the LSU has been present with a stand at the federal party conferences of the CDU in Germany. Intensive discussions with delegates, press representatives and guests are held there. The federal party conference is the most important communication platform for the LSU within the CDU. This made a decisive contribution to the further awareness of the association within the parent party, especially since the LSU booth received more attention from year to year and was better placed.
• "Wild Thirteen": During the parliamentary summer break in 2012, while the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court on the splitting of spouses was already in sight, a group of thirteen CDU members of the Bundestag came together and wrote a joint open letter to the top of the parliamentary group. Tenor: the previous course of your group could not go on like this. The Union and the Federal Government should not allow themselves to be carried further by the Constitutional Court, but should again actively shape politics. In their letter, they appealed to tackle the issue of tax equality aggressively. The summer break was a clever time. The media attention was great, the press christened the group of MPs "The Wild Thirteen" in reference to the pirate gang from Michael Ende's children's book "Jim Button and the Wild 13". The informal alliance consisted of Ingrid Fischbach, Olav Gutting, Frank Heinrich, Stefan Kaufmann , Jürgen Klimke, Rolf Koschorrek, Jan-Marco Luczak , Jens Spahn , Nadine Schön , Marcus Weinberg , Sabine Weiss , Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker and Matthias Zimmer. After the letter was published, the members of the Bundestag Ruprecht Polenz (CDU) and Dagmar Wöhrl (CSU) immediately declared their solidarity.
• 2012: For the first time in the party's sixty-year history, the federal party convention of the CDU in Germany debates the equality of (same-sex) partners with different-sex spouses in tax law. This was triggered by a motion from the CDU district association in Fulda, which aimed to stop the discussion on equality in the CDU by means of a party congress resolution. The LSU was then challenged. In the absence of their own right to apply, a counter-motion was formulated as an initiative motion with the support of the so-called "Wild Thirteen", for which 30 signatures were required. 115 of the 1,001 delegates signed within a very short time so that the required quorum was achieved. The application was submitted by the Bundestag members Winkelmeyer-Becker, Kaufmann and Luczak and accepted by the application commission; there was a lively debate. At the beginning, there were five members of the federal and state parliament on the list of speakers at the LSU. The debate ended up being 90 minutes long, with ten speakers on each side. In the end, the proponents of equality lost forty to sixty percent; nevertheless, on a subject that had never been openly discussed in the CDU, this was a remarkable result. The LSU members rate the result of the party congress largely positive. The debate was initiated in the party - that was probably the main success of the LSU at the Hanover party congress. A narrow victory also seemed harmful to many LSU functionaries and, in their eyes, would have encouraged a tendency to split. The aim of the LSU is not to surprise the critics of its position with possibly narrow majorities, but rather to introduce them to the topic in the debate.
• 2015: In the weeks after the Irish referendum (on May 22nd), many CDU politicians publicly positioned themselves in interviews or Bundestag debates for the opening of marriage. On June 11, 2015, the LSU met 18 of its parliamentary supporters in the Paul-Löbe-Haus. Fifteen members of the Bundestag participated from the CDU and three from the CSU. a. Marcus Weinberg, Sabine Sütterlin-Waack, Andreas Nick, Nadine Schön (deputy parliamentary group chairman), Jens Spahn, Sabine Weiss (deputy parliamentary group chairman), Christina Schwarzer, Matthias Zimmer, Stefan Kaufmann (all CDU) and Bernd Fabritius, Dagmar Wöhrl, Gudrun Zollner (all CSU). The LSU has been calling for marriage to be opened up for a long time and has also supported the LSVD campaign to open up marriage ("No half measures") as a commitment to real equality and equal rights.

Content profile

Mission statement

The LSU is committed to the principles of the Christian image of man. The focus is therefore on the preservation of creation and respect for all human beings as they were created, regardless of their gender, physical disability, religion, ethnicity, nationality or sexual orientation and gender identity. Love and sexuality are gifts to people. Based on this conviction, the LSU advocates equal and respectful coexistence in our society.

The members of the LSU have made a conscious decision to work in an association that is close to the Union parties. The LSU intends to preserve and sustainably strengthen the values ​​of the Union and free democracy through its commitment. With their commitment, the LSU members want to counter existing prejudices and reservations in the CDU and CSU. To this end, the LSU conducts a constructive and self-confident dialogue with the Union at state and federal level.

Political positions

The LSU calls for the legal completion of the Civil Partnership Act and thus the opening of marriage to same-sex couples. The state is called upon to guarantee the legal equality of homosexuals with heterosexual people. In the position papers "Marriage for All", "Joint Adoption - What Is Anything Against It?", "Mainz Declaration", the arguments adopted by the LSU on these issues are listed in detail.

A central cause of rejection and discrimination against people with a different sexual orientation or gender identity is often ignorance. Objective and comprehensive clarification is therefore still urgently required, also for reasons of violence prevention. This takes place not only at home, but mainly at school. Here, same-sex lifestyles are usually not treated adequately or not at all. Qualified basic and advanced training for teachers is an essential prerequisite for this.

The LSU advocates (among other things with a support campaign in 2014) for the rehabilitation and support of those convicted according to § 175 StGB in the Federal Republic and § 151 StGB - GDR. The dismantling of discrimination and stigmatization of people with HIV and AIDS as well as the promotion of effective prevention and research and the teaching of respect for different ways of life in school and education are constant concerns.

Asexuality and heterosexuality are neither discussed in the basic program nor in the Mainz Declaration.

Current demands

• Eliminating discrimination and stigmatization of people with HIV and AIDS and promoting effective prevention and research
• Teaching of respect for different ways of life in schools and other educational institutions
• Stand up against hate violence
• Demanding human rights worldwide
• Addition of Art. 3 GG to the characteristics of sexual orientation and gender identity
• Promotion of diversity in all areas of life and work

Relationship to parent parties

Within the union family of the CDU and CSU there are “associations” (for example the Junge Union ), “special organizations” (for example the ring of Christian-Democratic Students ) and “other groups”. The LSU is one of the latter. Other groups are less closely related to the parent parties than specialized organizations or associations, but are to be understood as a preliminary stage of these. In line with its self-image, the LSU sees itself as a political and societal front-runner organization that assumes a mediator or hinge function between the parent party and the LGBTI community and communicates political and socially relevant issues in both directions and represents lobbyists. According to the basic program, the LSU strives for the status of an “association” or “special organization” within the Union parties. At the state level (Berlin and Rhineland-Palatinate) the LSU has the status of a working group.

In September 2019, the CDU regional association in Berlin announced that it would apply to the CDU federal party conference in November 2019 to upgrade the LSU to an association. The delegates referred the application to a structure and statute committee and the decision was thus postponed to the next federal party conference in December 2020.

Inner structure

federal Association

The federal association is the highest organizational level within the LSU, it comprises the federal members' assembly and the federal board.

Federal Members' Assembly (BMV)

The Federal Members' Assembly is the highest body within the LSU Federal Association. The general assembly takes place regularly once a year, alternating in the four regional associations north, east, west and south. At the BMV, the federal board is elected every two years, and the statutes and rules of procedure are adopted. If necessary, overarching content-related discussions on position papers or key proposals take place at the BMV.

Federal Executive

The task of the federal executive is to do the daily political work. He plans the BMV and other events at the federal level, such as B. the annual reception and the status at the party congresses of the parent parties.

The federal board is re-elected every two years at the federal members' meeting. According to the current statutes, the following offices in the federal executive committee are to be filled by election:

1. the federal chairman
2. three deputy federal chairmen
3. the federal treasurer
4. at least two assessors

The twelve state chairmen are also represented on the federal executive board.

The federal executive appoints a federal manager and a federal press spokesman from among its ranks.

Previous federal chairmen were:

• since 2010: Alexander Vogt
• 2007–2010:     Reinhard Thole
• 2006–2007: Arnd Lange
• 2004–2006:     Roland Heintze
• 2001–2004: Rolf Ohler
• 1999–2001: Martin Herdieckerhoff
• 1998-1999: Mark T. Jones

Regional associations

The task of each regional association is the lobbying work at the state level within the CDU or CSU and thus the contact to state politics, the participation in party events at the state level, CSDs etc.

There are the following regional associations (as of November 2018)

• Baden-Württemberg
• Berlin (also a working group within the CDU Berlin)
• Brandenburg
• Hamburg
• Hesse
• North Rhine-Westphalia
• Rhineland-Palatinate (at the same time working group within the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate)
• Saarland
• Saxony
• Lower Saxony (LSU in Lower Saxony)
• Bavaria
• Thuringia

External presentation

Annual receptions and honorary award

The LSU was the first political LGBTI organization to organize a parliamentary reception, as is customary with the large associations represented in Berlin. In the first years the annual receptions took place u. a. in the state representations of Baden-Württemberg, Saarland, Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Hamburg. In 2014, CDU General Secretary Peter Tauber invited the LSU to the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus, the federal office of the CDU in Germany. In 2015, the evening was held in the Commerzbank representative office at the Brandenburg Gate.

Every two years the LSU awards the LSU honorary award it donated for acceptance, tolerance and education .

In 2011, the long-standing President of the German Bundestag, Rita Süssmuth (CDU), was the first recipient to be recognized for her commitment. During the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Ms. Süssmuth, as the federal minister responsible for women, family and health, campaigned for the rights of homosexuals. She had focused on education and prevention, campaigned against all types of discrimination and stigmatization, and at the same time demanded tolerance and acceptance for those affected. Thanks to her personal commitment - despite great resistance and reservations also in her own political camp - she succeeded early on in providing the fundamentals for HIV / AIDS education in Germany.

In 2013, the so-called "Wild Thirteen" were honored, because with their initiative in 2012 an increasingly open discussion within the CDU had finally started.

In 2015, the Protestant church president in Hesse and Nassau, Volker Jung, was appointed for his work in the ad hoc commission of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), which provided the orientation aid “Between autonomy and dependency. Strengthening the Family as a Reliable Community ”, and honored his repeated public advocacy for social acceptance.

With the honorary award, the LSU would like to send a signal to the parent parties, but also to send a signal to the outside world and make it clear within the community that the Union is not a monolithic bloc, but is also home to politicians and personalities who support LGBTI issues.

The prize money is paid by the honorary winners i. d. Usually donated to social initiatives and institutions. So the Hospizdienst Tauwerk e. V. of the Franciscan Sisters and Brothers in Berlin and the gay anti-violence project Maneo in Berlin, or the Evangelical Center on White Stone in Frankfurt / M., Which uses the prize money to support women's projects in Africa.

Web links

• Website of the LSU federal association

Individual evidence

1. ^ Federal Executive Board - LSU Online . In: LSU Online . ( lsu-online.de [accessed on April 5, 2017]).
2. ^ LSU Berlin: Articles of Association. Retrieved October 5, 2019 . 
3. ^ CDU Rhineland-Palatinate: Associations. Retrieved October 5, 2019 . 
4. ↑ dpa: CDU Berlin wants to strengthen the status of the LSU in the Union. Berliner Morgenpost , September 14, 2019, archived from the original on September 25, 2019 (German). 
5. ↑ CDU consoled gays and lesbians - no further recognition. In: Team magazine. November 23, 2019, accessed on December 31, 2019 (German).