Grüne on equality and diversity

The Greens want people with disabilities to be able to represent their own interests through professional structures. To that end, municipal advisory councils and commissioners are to be established across the state and political participation expanded.

People with disabilities should be able to speak up for their own rights. Every county and big city should have a council for this. Voting should be possible without barriers. There should be offers in easy-to-read language.

Full-time municipal disability commissioners would receive funding. The independent participation counseling service (EUTB) is to become better known and must build expertise on mental illness. The plans include barrier-free elections, digital participation platforms in easy-to-read language and programs for involvement in local bodies. The participation fund for self-advocacy organizations is to be well funded, and the visiting commissions that inspect facilities are to be given stronger powers.

The Greens want to make all state-owned buildings accessible by 2035 and enforce digital accessibility. The state action plan on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is to be updated, and state law checked against the convention.

All state buildings should be free of barriers by 2035. Websites of the state and towns should work for everyone. Blind people should get more money. The state should think of people with disabilities in every decision.

Universities and police buildings are priorities for the conversion; a state accessibility office and a competence center are to be set up. Digital services of the state and municipalities should be accessible, multilingual and available in plain language, and disability associations would get stronger rights to sue. A degree program for sign language interpreting is to be developed with Baden-Württemberg. The state allowance for blind people would rise with prices and be extended to people with severe hearing impairments. Also planned are disability mainstreaming in the administration, funding for inclusive shared housing and an inclusive child and youth welfare system.

The Greens call on the federal government to replace Ehegattensplitting (joint tax splitting for married couples) with individual taxation, because in their view it structurally disadvantages women. At state level, a program is to support companies that voluntarily review their pay and close gaps between women and men. Equal opportunity officers are to get a stronger position.

Married couples today often pay taxes together. The Greens say this is unfair to women. Each person should be taxed alone. Companies should get help if they pay women and men the same. Equal opportunity officers should get a stronger role.

The state program is called "Entgeltgleichheit jetzt!" (equal pay now) and is to offer advice and audits modeled on the Logib-D analysis tool. Companies with demonstrably fair pay are to receive the "Fair Pay RLP" award. Projects promoting a more even split of care work within families are also to be funded. The role of equal opportunity officers is to be strengthened in the municipal code. The campaign for more women in local politics will continue and be developed further, as will efforts for more women in leadership positions.

The Greens want to keep expanding women's shelters, transitional housing, emergency hotlines and intervention centers, and to fully implement the Istanbul Convention in the state. The federal Gewalthilfegesetz (violence assistance act), which grants a right to free protection and counseling from 2032, is to be implemented consistently. Prevention and stricter federal rules are added to this.

The Greens want to protect women better from violence. There should be more places in women's shelters. Hotlines and counseling should grow too. Harassing women with shouts on the street should become a crime. Boys and young men should learn early to solve conflicts without violence.

In implementing the violence assistance act, especially vulnerable groups are to be considered, including homeless and refugee women, women with disabilities, trans women and women in prostitution. Protection against violence is to be anchored more fully in family court proceedings to shield women and children from domestic violence. At federal level, the party advocates making catcalling, meaning verbal sexual harassment, a criminal offense. For prevention, services for boys and young men and work with perpetrators are to be strengthened. Sex education is to focus on self-determination.

The Greens want a state anti-discrimination act to close gaps in protection and give affected people ways to defend themselves. An eased burden of proof is to apply in discrimination law. Counseling centers are to be expanded and the state action plan against racism continued.

No one should be treated unfairly, for example because of skin color, religion or disability. The Greens want a state law for this. It should help people defend themselves. There should be more counseling centers. Schools and public offices should offer courses against racism.

The act is to explicitly cover disadvantage due to disability as structural discrimination. Counseling centers are to be accessible, independent and multilingual. The state action plan against racism and group-focused hostility is to be evaluated and developed further, including workshops in schools and public agencies and campaigns against fake news. Education projects in daycare centers, schools, youth centers and the police are to be secured, and diversity in public administration promoted. The reporting office for hostile incidents will continue to be supported, and the digital counseling guide will be developed further.

The Greens want to better protect queer people from violence and hostility, including through permanently funded centers in all larger cities and an updated state action plan. The state constitution is to name sexual orientation and gender identity as protected characteristics. Parentage law is to be modernized and multi-parent families given legal security.

Queer people are, for example, lesbian, gay or trans. The Greens want to protect them better from violence. Large cities should have permanent meeting places with counseling. The state constitution should clearly protect queer people. Children should be able to have more than two parents with custody.

The state commissioner for same-sex lifestyles and gender identity is to take on anti-discrimination as well and become an independent office with its own powers and resources. A study is to record the extent of violence against queer people; a specialist office for queer refugees is also planned. The SCHLAU education project will be strengthened, sex education modernized, and further specialized contact points created in the police and judiciary. The so-called morality clause is to be removed from the state constitution and Article 4 amended. Children are to be legally secure from birth, including in rainbow families or after sperm donation. Queer associations and municipal queer officers will continue to receive funding.