Grüne on equality and diversity

The Greens want public spaces and housing designed so that people of all ages, with or without disabilities, can use them equally. To that end, barriers are to be removed, public restrooms improved, and the "Age-Friendly City" action plan firmly established.

Everyone should be able to use the city well. This goes for old people, young people, and people with disabilities. The Greens want to remove barriers. They also want better public restrooms.

In housing construction, the rules for accessibility and wheelchair-friendly floor plans are to be based on future need and expanded. Public agencies and future planners are to get better training in accessible urban design. More places are planned where people can spend time without having to buy anything. For large events, there is to be a mobile restroom for people with the most severe disabilities. The action plan from the WHO Age-friendly Cities project is to become a permanent part of urban development.

The Greens want to set up an independent anti-discrimination commission for schools and a state-funded complaints office for racism. Every school would have trained, independent contact persons. In the program's view, racism is a problem at Hamburg's schools that calls for structural change.

Some children face racism at school. The Greens want an office for complaints. It should be independent. A commission should deal with discrimination. Every school should have a contact person.

The contact persons would act as a link between the commission, the complaints office and the schools. The party cites recommendations of the 2021 EU study CHIEF. Resources for the cross-curricular focus on values education would also grow considerably. Posts in the education authority and the state institute for teacher training would strengthen prevention of antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism.

The Greens want better medical care for women affected by genital mutilation. The issue is to be given more weight in asylum proceedings. Prevention, counseling, and empowerment of those affected are to be expanded.

Some women have suffered genital mutilation. The Greens want to help them better. Doctors should treat them better. It should count more in asylum cases. There should be more counseling.

The party wants to push for female genital mutilation (FGM) to carry more weight in asylum proceedings. Prevention, counseling, and empowerment for affected women are to be stepped up. The roundtable against female genital mutilation is to be used more intensively. In addition, setting up a coordination office is to be examined.

The Greens want to agree on measures with universities to raise the share of women professors and close the pay gap between women and men. Support for dual-career couples is also to be expanded.

There should be more women professors at universities. Women and men should earn the same. The Greens want to agree on this with the universities. Partners of new staff should also find work more easily.

According to the platform, the share of women at Hamburg's universities is above the national average, but further steps are needed for parity. Dual-career measures are meant to help couples combine private life and two careers, since moving to Hamburg can depend on job offers for partners. In addition, the pilot project "Bildungsfachkräfte" at the HAW anchors inclusion in research and teaching.

The Greens want better legal protection for parents against discrimination at work, adding "parenthood" as a protected characteristic in the General Equal Treatment Act. The party also stands by a 50 percent quota for women on the governing bodies of companies in which the state holds a stake.

Women and parents often face disadvantages at work. The Greens want to change that. A law should protect parents better from unfair treatment. Companies should think about child care when planning shifts. In city-owned companies, half of the leaders should be women.

Companies are to be given incentives to let women keep working during pregnancy and while breastfeeding. Child care and care work are to be taken into account in shift planning; single parents in particular should be able to combine paid work and care more easily, partly to prevent poverty among women in old age. The 50 percent quota applies to supervisory boards, executive boards and companies with a state stake. In Hamburg's administration, new leadership concepts and active work for equality and diversity are to be the standard.

The Greens demand that at least half of the places on electoral lists go to women. This goal is to be written into Hamburg's constitution; the platform justifies it with the equality mandate of the Basic Law.

At least half of the candidates on election lists should be women. The Greens want this to be required. This goal should be written into Hamburg's constitution. The Greens say Germany's Basic Law demands equal chances for women.

The platform notes that Hamburg's parliament has the highest share of women among Germany's state parliaments and attributes this partly to the party's own women's quota. Equal representation, it argues, is not just a political aim but a constitutional mandate. A minimum share of 50 percent women on electoral lists is therefore to apply and to be given constitutional status in Hamburg as an objective.

The Greens want to close the pay gap between women and men and reduce the unequal distribution of care work. At the federal level, they push for an equal pay law, an end to Ehegattensplitting (income splitting for married couples) and equal treatment of different family forms.

Women earn less than men on average. The Greens want to change that. They call for a law on equal pay. The tax break for married couples should end. This tax break is called Ehegattensplitting. All kinds of families should have equal rights.

The platform names women's financial independence as a precondition for self-determination. Equal pay is to be secured for work of equal value. The unequal division of care work, it says, leads to gaps in pay and pensions. At the federal level, the Greens advocate an equal pay law, abolishing Ehegattensplitting, and equal legal and tax treatment of heterosexual, same-sex and single-parent families.

The Greens want to anchor gender equality more firmly as a policy field of its own in Hamburg. An independent Senate coordinator for women's equality and an independent gender budgeting office are to be created.

The Greens want to strengthen equality for women in Hamburg. An independent coordinator at the Senate should take care of it. She should get her own office. A new unit should check whether the city spends money fairly for all genders. This is called gender budgeting.

The Senate coordinator is to work along the lines of the existing coordinator for people with disabilities and rely on a well-resourced equality office. An independent unit is to anchor gender-responsive budgeting more firmly. The Office for Equality and Anti-Discrimination is to support the policy field. At the district level, the Greens want to examine how equality can be better anchored structurally. The equality monitor is to be developed further, with automated data delivery and permanent resources.

The Greens want abortion to no longer be regulated in the criminal code. In Hamburg, access to care is to improve, and abortion is to become part of specialist medical training.

Abortion is in the criminal code today. The Greens want to change that. Women should decide about their own bodies. Hamburg should offer better abortion care. Doctors should learn it in their training. Counseling should also be strengthened.

The platform cites the expert commission appointed by the federal government, according to which abolishing Section 218 is possible and legally required. Women should have an unrestricted right to self-determination over their bodies. The care situation in Hamburg is to improve. Pregnancy conflict and sexual counseling is to be strengthened, also to prevent abuse and support self-determined family planning.

The Greens want to expand protection from domestic violence and provide considerably more money for it. Women's shelters and counseling centers are to get more capacity, and safe housing is also to be created for men and non-binary people.

Many women experience violence from a partner. Women's shelters in Hamburg are overloaded. The Greens want more places and more counseling. There should be much more money for this. Men and non-binary people should also get safe housing.

The platform refers to the Istanbul Convention and the city's violence protection strategy updated in 2024. Existing women's shelters are to get better conditions, more places and more counseling. The StoP projects (neighborhoods without partner violence) are to be expanded with reliable funding. Affected women and their children are to receive more help finding housing and work. For women with disabilities, the Greens call for more awareness work and women's representatives in residential facilities. Safe housing is to be created for men and non-binary people affected by violence, for whom Hamburg so far has no shelter places.

The Greens want a state anti-discrimination law for Hamburg that also covers discrimination by public bodies. In their account, the federal General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) so far leaves this area unprotected.

A federal law protects people from unfair treatment. But it does not cover actions by the state. So the Greens want a separate law for Hamburg. It should also protect people from unfair treatment by public offices. Counseling centers should also become better known.

The platform calls the AGG an important achievement that nonetheless does not cover state action. According to the Greens, an expert report on a state law has already been commissioned. At the federal level, they additionally push for a reform of the AGG. Counseling and reporting centers for discrimination cases are to be promoted more widely because demand has risen.

The Greens want an anti-discrimination office that brings all counseling and reporting services together in one place. It would advise on every ground covered by the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and on additional ones such as social status. Existing strategies against specific forms of discrimination are to be carried out and reviewed.

The Greens want one central office against discrimination. Discrimination means people are treated worse, for example because of where they come from. All counseling services should be in one place. Everyone in Hamburg should be able to reach it easily.

The office is to record and analyze discrimination cases systematically and be given clear responsibilities and powers. The strategies against antigypsyism, anti-Black racism and antisemitism are to be put into practice and checked for their effect. Discrimination experienced by religious and ethnic groups is to be better recorded and made visible. Against anti-Muslim racism, the platform mentions a city contact point or an expansion of the MARwa reporting office as options. The party rejects holding Muslims collectively responsible for acts of terrorism.

The Greens want to supplement Hamburg's strategy against antigypsyism with a state treaty with Sinti and Roma self-organizations and associations. The aim is to fight antigypsyism structurally and secure equal participation.

The Greens want a treaty between Hamburg and the Sinti and Roma associations. The treaty should help against antigypsyism. Antigypsyism means hostility toward Sinti and Roma. Sinti and Roma should have equal chances.

The platform points to a long history of antigypsyist persecution in Hamburg, which it says lasted from the Nazi era into the 1990s. This history is to be examined, along with the question of whether such structures still exist. In carrying out the strategy, the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Antigypsyism are to serve as the benchmark.

The Greens want to act on the basis of the state strategy against antisemitism, focusing on education, youth exchange and counseling. The platform justifies this with the rise in antisemitic crimes and incitement since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Greens want to do more against antisemitism. Antisemitism is hatred of Jewish people. There should be more education and counseling. Teachers should learn more about the topic. All students should study the Israel-Palestine conflict in depth once.

The plan includes an out-of-school education provider that focuses on preventing antisemitism and on Jewish life and addresses all age groups. Knowledge about antisemitism is to become mandatory in every phase of teacher training; the platform cites the Würzburg ZABUS certificate as a possible model. Every student is to engage in depth with the Israel-Palestine conflict once during their school years. Education projects against antisemitism and conspiracy ideologies on social media are to be funded. The office of the antisemitism commissioner is to be strengthened and expanded.

The Greens want to move the rebuilding of the Bornplatz Synagogue forward quickly and help the Liberal Jewish Community get a place of its own. Hamburg is also to enter into a city partnership with Israel.

The Greens want to rebuild the Bornplatz Synagogue quickly. The Liberal Jewish Community should also get a good place. An old temple on Poolstraße should be restored. Hamburg should form a partnership with a city in Israel.

The platform describes the new Bornplatz Synagogue as a symbol of Jewish life and also as a memorial to the original building destroyed in the 1938 pogrom night. The Liberal Jewish Community is to receive space for community life and services. The former temple on Poolstraße is to be restored, because Hamburg is, in the platform's view, of worldwide importance for the history of liberal Judaism. The city partnership is meant to add to existing cooperation with Israel in science, culture and business.

The Greens want to counter anti-queer hatred with trained police stations, a public campaign and more police presence at hotspots, among other steps. The platform notes that Hamburg's police counted about 75 percent more anti-queer crimes in 2023 than the year before.

Queer people are, for example, lesbian, gay or trans. There are more crimes against them. The Greens want to protect them better. There should be more police in certain places. The police should learn more about the topic.

The awareness training already begun at police stations is to continue, accompanied by the police's two LGBTIQ* contact officers. A campaign is to target hatred and violence and raise trust in the police. The Progressive Pride Flag is to fly at city hall in the future, both during Pride Week and on IDAHOBIT on May 17. The party wants Hamburg to remain a leader on acceptance and self-determination for queer people.

The Greens want to carry out the more than 150 measures of the action plan "Hamburg l(i)ebt vielfältig" and support a shared place for the queer community. Existing counseling centers are to be financially secured, and services for trans, inter and non-binary people expanded.

The Greens want to support a shared house for queer groups. Counseling centers should keep getting money. There should be more counseling for trans and inter people. There should also be a center for rainbow families. These are families with queer parents.

The counseling centers of the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Centrum and Intervention e.V. are to stay funded independently of a future rainbow house, as are the AIDS-Hilfe and the HIV prevention project "Hein und Fiete." The platform sees a backlog in counseling and health care for trans, inter and non-binary people and highlights peer counseling. The party supports a rainbow family center. In the longer run, all of the city's public buildings are to have gender-neutral restrooms as well. A memorial site for sexual and gender diversity is to be created at the Binnenalster.

The Greens want to expand dedicated counseling and youth housing for queer children and teenagers within youth welfare services. Teachers and daycare staff are to receive training, and awareness work in schools is to continue.

Some queer children and teenagers are excluded. The Greens want to offer them more counseling and their own housing. Teachers should get training on this. Daycare staff should also learn more about rainbow families.

The services are to be created under the child-raising assistance provisions of Social Code Book VIII. Counseling and protected housing for queer refugees are to grow. The teacher training institute is to show by example in some subjects how queer-accepting curricula can be put into practice. The peer education project "Soorum" is to continue and be enlarged if needed. In early childhood education, the party wants the picture of family to go beyond the model of mother, father and children.

The Greens want to push at the federal level for the Basic Law to explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual identity. They also seek a reform of parentage law and a compensation fund for trans people who were forced into sterilization or divorce under the former Transsexuals Act.

The Greens want to change the Basic Law, Germany's constitution. It should say: No one may be disadvantaged because of their sexual identity. Queer parents should be treated equally by the law. Trans people should get money for past injustice.

In the party's view, adding this to the constitution would show that such discrimination is unacceptable. The parentage law reform is meant to end unequal treatment of homosexual and bisexual people as well as trans, inter and non-binary people. The compensation fund is to provide redress to those affected by forced sterilization and forced divorce. For trans, inter and non-binary people, high-quality health care is to be written into Social Code Book V, and medical staff are to be educated about anti-discrimination.

The Greens want more women in leadership positions in the justice system and will continue the mentoring program for women. They support a dedicated office for diversity and anti-discrimination at courts and prosecutors' offices. The justice system is to become as diverse as society.

More women should hold leading roles in the courts. The Greens will continue a mentoring program for this. In it, experienced people guide younger women. There should also be an office against discrimination at the courts.

Beyond mentoring, the Greens want to develop further support tools. The planned office would handle diversity and anti-discrimination issues and serve as a contact point for those affected. The party intends to keep monitoring the increased share of women on oral state exam panels.

The Greens want everyone to have equal access to the services and jobs of Hamburg's public administration regardless of origin. The civil service is to get a dedicated representative body for people with a migration background and people of color.

The Greens want a city government for all people. Where someone comes from should not matter. More young people with immigrant roots should work there. They should get their own representatives.

Recruitment of new staff for the administration is to focus especially on young people with a migration background. The state law on staff representation is to be amended so that, modeled on the women's representative, a body for people with a migration history and people of color is created. It is to name a trusted contact person and monitor whether support measures and binding target agreements are carried out. Support for diversity skills in companies is also to continue.

The Greens want more police presence at relevant hotspots and additional counseling services for queer people. A monument to sexual and gender diversity is to be built at the Binnenalster lake.

The Greens want to protect queer people better. Queer means for example: lesbian, gay or trans. There should be more police at certain places. There should be more counseling and help. A monument for diversity should stand at the Binnenalster lake.

Police are to be more present at relevant hotspots in the city. New counseling and support services are to be aimed at lesbian girls and women, queer youth, rainbow families and trans* people. The platform describes the LGBTIQ community as an important part of the city and wants to honor its tradition with a monument right at the Binnenalster.

The Greens want to strengthen the inclusion advisory councils in the districts by law. Their members are to receive expense allowances and easier access to assistance so that people with disabilities have more say.

The Greens want to strengthen the inclusion councils in the districts. There, people with disabilities have a say in politics. Members should get money for their effort. They should also get assistance more easily.

The platform refers to Hamburg's goal of becoming an inclusion metropolis. It says this only works if politics and administration consider inclusion in all areas from the start. A new legal basis is to introduce expense allowances for the councils and simplify assistance services.