The president’s order, reversing a Trump administration policy, creates opportunities for young people whose dreams of serving in the military had been sidetracked.
Twenty years after the rights of homosexual servicemen and women in the Bundeswehr were first protected, the German Cabinet has approved a law that will see those who faced discrimination receive compensation.
The German defense ministry has published a report outlining the extent of historic discrimination of gay soldiers before 2000. But authorities "cannot right every injustice," the defense minister admitted.
Article 92-6 of the country’s Military Criminal Act has punished sexual relations between men in the military, either on or off duty, with up to two years in prison under an “indecent acts” clause.
“People have respect for the military, they’re grateful for what they’re doing. Even when we speak to government institutions, they (veterans) are received more positively (than LGBT+ activists).”
