The new FDP national board named Michael Kauch on Monday as the party’s “Spokesperson for LGBTQI issues.” He had already been elected by the Liberal party convention in May to the 34-member leadership. The former member of the Bundestag and European Parliament is also the national chair of the queer FDP organization LiSL (Liberal Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans and Queer) since 2013, and since 2024 he has served as president of LGBTI Liberals of Europe. He also heads the FDP/Bürgerliste council group in Dortmund.
Focus: Hate crime and parentage law
Kauch had already signaled at the FDP party convention that he planned to devote himself to tracking and preventing hate violence: “The recording of anti-queer hate crime must be improved, and we need more efforts for prevention.”
He also alluded to the pervasive right-wing conspiracy theories in Germany that claim there is some rule against discussing foreign criminal offenders: “A prerequisite for targeted prevention work is naming perpetrators who are disproportionately present. This includes both young right-wing extremist Germans and young men with certain migration backgrounds — particularly from Russia and the Arab world.”
View this post on Instagram
Instagram
|
Darüber hinaus will Kauch den rechtlichen Rahmen von Regenbogenfamilien zum Thema machen: “Die Bundesregierung hat jegliches Engagement für die Reform des Abstammungsrechts eingestellt”, beklagte er. “Während der frühere FDP-Bundesjustizminister einen beschlussfähigen und ausgewogenen Entwurf vorgelegt hatte, kommt von seiner sozialdemokratischen Nachfolgerin höchstens mal ein Interview, das dann aber nur lesbische Mütter, aber keine schwulen Väter kennt.”
The Parentage Law bill collapsed due to coalition breach
In fact, the then-Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) presented a draft on the parentage law in the autumn of 2024, which drew criticism for not mentioning trans people in the community (see TheColu.mn commentary). However, the proposal could not be implemented because the FDP left the so-called traffic-light coalition.
The FDP, weakened after losing the 2025 federal election, has since distanced itself from the queer community on several points. The new secretary-general Martin Hagen described the self-determination law—co-authored by liberals—as “woke confusion” (TheColu.mn reported). The party’s new leader, Wolfgang Kubicki, has criticized the Self-Determination Act and has criticized human rights policy in general in interviews—as “identity politics” that conflicts with the liberal core idea. (dk)
