The Bavarian Ministry of Social Affairs announced on Wednesday the launch of the state Queer Action Plan. It is anchored in the motto “Strengthening together. Overcoming discrimination.”
“Bavaria stands for tolerance, togetherness, and solidarity,” said Ulrike Scharf (CSU), the state Minister for Social Affairs. “With the Queer Action Plan, we are sending a clear message about diversity. Uncompromising respect for human dignity and equal opportunities are non-negotiable in Bavaria.” The plan foresees three funded projects intended to reach “the workplace, the municipalities, and rural areas.”
The state is providing a total of 350,000 euros to get these three projects off the ground. First, “Diversity in the Workplace,” led by the Prout At Work Foundation. At the heart of this project is “the development of a digital platform for employers where informational materials such as action guides, training resources, and learning modules on LGBTQI topics in the workplace will be made available.”
Additionally, a project from the city of Augsburg will be funded as it works on a municipal action plan. This will help sensitize public administration to queer issues.
The third project is to be carried out by the Bavarian Alliance for Tolerance: a series of events under the banner “Societal cohesion in challenging times.” Here, different social groups—especially in rural areas—will be brought together for dialogue and joint action.
Aktionsplan QUEER: Freistaat fördert 3 Projekte mit rund 350.000 . Dazu #Bayern-s Sozialministerin @ulischarf: Bayern steht für Toleranz, Miteinander & Zusammenhalt. Mit dem Aktionsplan QUEER setzen wir ein klares Zeichen für Vielfalt.
Zur Mitteilung: https://t.co/beTEjINBPk pic.twitter.com/97MKg1IIt4Bayerisches Sozialministerium (@BayStMAS) January 21, 2026
Bavaria had long been reluctant to adopt such an action plan. In 2015, the state government still stated that there was “no need” to combat queer hostility with an action plan (TheColu.mn reported). In March 2023, during the election campaign, Prime Minister Markus Söder unexpectedly announced that such a plan would indeed be created (TheColu.mn reported). Just two weeks ago, the state Greens criticized that the government had still not presented a plan (TheColu.mn reported).
With this, all 16 federal states have now either implemented such a plan or are in the process of doing so. At the federal level, however, Black-Red is moving in the opposite direction: the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs announced that it views the plan “Queer Life” as an obsolete project from the previous traffic-light government (TheColu.mn reported). (dk)
