Linke on other topics

The Left wants all religious communities to be able to shape their community life on equal terms and without fear. Religious instruction is to be open to all communities in the same way. At the same time, the party stands by its demand to end the state's historical payments to the churches and wants to fight religious fundamentalism.

The Left wants equal rights for all religions. This applies to Christians, Jews and Muslims. All should be able to offer religion classes. The state pays the churches money every year. The Left wants to end these payments. The party also wants to act against religious extremism.

The program sees churches and Jewish and Muslim communities as an important part of civil society and describes attacks from the right, antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism as a threat. The communities' ideas for solving social tasks are to be taken up. There is to be an ongoing dialogue at the political level with churches and Jewish and Muslim communities. The historically based state payments to the churches are to be replaced by a final settlement. Religious fundamentalism, whether Christian evangelical or jihadist, is to be fought through intervention, education, prevention and civil society initiatives.

The Left wants every child to be able to swim safely by the end of primary school. To that end, swimming lessons with enough capacity should be available close to home. The platform points out that one in three children currently cannot swim safely when leaving primary school.

The Left wants all children to learn to swim. This should happen by the end of primary school. There should be swimming lessons close to home. The swimming vouchers should be redesigned.

The platform calls for swimming options near where children live, with sufficient capacity. The existing swimming vouchers are to be redesigned because, according to the platform, they had little success. The Left cites pool closures and travel times of up to an hour for children in rural areas. The party sees sports and swimming as a public responsibility.

The Left wants to clear the renovation backlog at pools, gyms and sports grounds through long-term investment programs. Funding for club-owned sports facilities should also be large enough for necessary projects to go ahead. The party rejects making membership in the Landessportbund (state sports federation) a condition for funding.

Many swimming pools and gyms are in poor condition. The Left wants them repaired. The state should give towns and cities money for this. Sports clubs should also get more money for their facilities. They should not have to join the state sports federation for this.

Municipalities are to receive reliable support for renovation and modernization through long-term investment programs. Funding programs for clubs should be predictable, low on paperwork and suited to small and mid-sized clubs. According to the platform, only about a third of the funding clubs applied for could recently be approved because state funds were cut. Grants should also be open to clubs outside the state sports federation, which would have to carry out any demographic review regardless of membership. Clubs without their own facilities should get affordable access to venues.

The Left wants to make sure children and teenagers from low-income families are not kept out of sports by cost. It plans subsidies for membership fees and a closer link between education and participation benefits and club sports. The platform argues that children from poorer families use club offerings far less often.

Sports cost money, for example for the club and the equipment. Some families cannot pay for that. The Left wants to help these families. There should be subsidies for club fees. Schools, daycare centers and clubs should work together more.

The cost of fees, equipment and travel should no longer be an obstacle. The party wants to subsidize membership fees and better connect state participation benefits with club sports. Partnerships between schools, daycare centers and clubs are to be supported. Projects such as talent scouting and talent development should continue.

The Left wants to do more to support volunteers in sports, including a statewide volunteer card and secure funding for voluntary service programs. Sports offerings for specific groups such as older people, people with disabilities or queer people are to receive special support. Clubs should get help to operate with few barriers and without discrimination.

Many people help out in sports clubs for free. The Left wants to support these people more. There should be a volunteer card for the whole state. Sports should be open to everyone. This includes older people and people with disabilities.

The plans include more recognition, a statewide volunteer card, secured voluntary service programs and making it easier to combine volunteering with school, university and work. Clubs are to get support for training coaches, for digitalization and for fan culture structures. Qualified staff should be available to deal with issues such as far-right tendencies or sexual abuse in sports. Public sports spaces such as skate parks and neighborhood soccer fields should be kept. Offerings for older people, people with disabilities, girls and women, queer people and people with a migration background are to receive special support and be expanded close to home in rural areas.