The former Greens leader Ricarda Lang has accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) of hypocrisy in a contribution to the Süddeutsche Zeitung (paid article). “The expressions of solidarity from Chancellor Friedrich Merz are hypocritical. It is disingenuous to speak of safety for queer people while cutting funding for organizations that provide exactly that safety,” said the Bundestag deputy from Baden-Württemberg.
“If Merz really wanted to show solidarity, he would have attended the CSD in Hamburg and rolled back the cuts,” Lang continued. “He has ridiculed the fight for queer rights with his circus-tent remark, he refuses to include queer life in Article 3 of the Basic Law. Can I take him seriously? Not at the moment.”
Lang also criticized the government for, in the wake of the Islamist terrorist attack at the Berlin Christopher Street Day (CSD), focusing only on immigration policy and deportations: “Whoever only talks about migration now is making it easy: the perpetrator grew up here. That’s our problem—not a deportation program could have changed that.” It frustrates her “when those who fight queer rights at every turn suddenly want to instrumentalize us.”
At the same time, she stressed that it is intolerable when Islamism is relativized. “That is a deeply dehumanizing ideology that targets those who want to live freely—especially queer people,” Lang said. She lamented a tendency within the left to remain silent about Islamism to avoid playing into the hands of the wrong people. “We should not be guided by that fear. We must combat Islamism and right-wing extremism with equal vigor,” Lang demanded.
Felix Banaszak Criticizes Merz and Prien
Also on Wednesday, the current Greens leader Felix Banaszak voiced criticism of Merz and Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) on social media: “After the Berlin CSD attack, Friedrich Merz and Karin Prien promised protection and solidarity to the queer community. Now, with the cameras off, they are stripping Rathenow’s CSD of its funding,” said the Bundestag deputy from North Rhine-Westphalia. The step could only be read one way: “Ms. Prien doesn’t care about queer visibility, cohesion, and democracy on the ground.”
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Just a few days earlier, the cancellation of funds for the Rathenow CSD in Brandenburg had become known (TheColu.mn reported). Prien’s ministry subsequently explained that supporting a CSD would violate the neutrality of the state (TheColu.mn reported). It remained unclear why this had been possible under the previous government—and why the state would need to be “neutral” on the issue of violence against queer people, either.
Already earlier, the Prien ministry had announced cuts for “left-wing” projects and its ministry, for example, ordered the removal of funding for Lambda, the queer youth network that has received support for decades. The association cares especially for the care of queer young people in rural areas. This could have dramatic consequences for the situation of these young people, warned the youth network. (dk)
