SPD on equality and diversity

The SPD wants to act against racism, antisemitism, sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination in schools. Easily accessible counseling and complaint services and diversity officers are to be set up for this. Educational institutions are to stand for sustainability, climate protection, diversity and inclusion.

The SPD wants to fight unfair treatment in schools. This includes racism and hatred of Jews. People affected should be able to complain easily. There should be diversity officers. Schools should also work against fixed roles for girls and boys.

The program explicitly names racism, antisemitism, antiziganism, anti-Slavism, sexism and homophobia. The diversity officers are to come from among those affected. Schools are to counter the idea that people must behave according to the gender assigned to them. Current challenges facing society are to be included in the curricula. As a method, the SPD relies on cross-subject project teaching beyond the 45-minute lesson.

The SPD wants to further implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Hesse and coordinate inclusion centrally within the state government. The state and its agencies are to lead by example, for instance with applications in plain language. Benefits such as the allowance for deaf people are to be expanded.

The SPD wants to do more for people with disabilities. One person in the government should be in charge of inclusion. Inclusion means everyone can take part everywhere. Forms should be available in easy language. Deaf people should get more money.

The building code is to be changed regarding the quota of barrier-free apartments, and new rules are planned for barrier-free mobility. The Gehörlosengeld (allowance for deaf people) is to be paid from a disability degree of 70, the monthly rate of 150 euros is to rise, and applicants are no longer to bear the cost of proof. People who move from another state into a care facility in Hesse are to be eligible for allowances for blind and deafblind people. Plans include a training initiative for participation and deafblind assistants and mandatory content on disability in all degree programs. Students are to be able to learn basic sign language, and the Landeswohlfahrtsverband (state welfare association) is to be strengthened.

The SPD wants to make religious education possible for all faiths, in particular Islamic religious education in line with the Basic Law. Cooperation between the state and religious communities is to be developed further. Hesse is to be strengthened as a state with diverse religions and worldviews.

People of many religions live in Hesse. The SPD wants religious education for all faiths. This includes Islamic religious education. The state should keep working with religious communities.

Islamic religious education is to be taught under Article 7(3) of the Basic Law, according to the principles of the religious communities. The SPD welcomes ethics classes as a contribution to coexistence between religious and non-religious worldviews. Universities are to have enough professorships dealing with faith and worldviews, and expanding Islamic theology is to become easier. Daycare staff are to get support in dealing with religious diversity. The SPD wants to keep supporting the social work of churches and religious communities and to protect freedom of religion.

The SPD wants to create a law in Hesse that protects against discrimination and appoint a state commissioner for it. In addition, the state's integration law is to be thoroughly revised to reflect the diversity of society.

The SPD wants a new law for Hesse. It should protect people from unfair treatment. A state commissioner should take care of this. The law on integration should also be rewritten.

The law is meant to form the basis for lasting anti-discrimination work. According to the platform, all people should be able to live equally and by their own choices, regardless of sexual and gender identity or origin. The SPD describes people with a migration background as a firm part of society. For that reason, Hesse's integration law is to be rewritten from the ground up.

The SPD wants to introduce a bill for a state parliament made up equally of women and men. Companies majority-owned by the state are to have a quota for women on supervisory and management boards. The state's equal rights law is to be fundamentally renewed.

The SPD wants more women in politics. The state parliament should have equal numbers of women and men. The SPD wants to propose a law for this. State-owned companies should have a fixed share of women in top jobs. Men should do more care work for children and relatives.

Hesse is to get a gender equality strategy that aims, among other things, for money to benefit the genders equally. More women are to hold leadership posts in the ministries. The SPD wants men to do considerably more care work, because it currently falls mostly on women and, in the party's view, leads to career and health disadvantages. Local programs for single parents are to be funded. In the platform's words, the Hessian equal rights law is to be overhauled from the core, and education and networking programs for women are to be expanded.

The SPD wants to fully implement in Hesse the Istanbul Convention, a European treaty on protecting women from violence. Protection services are to exist everywhere in the state and be adequately funded. One focus is on accessible places in women's shelters and on prevention.

The SPD wants to protect women better from violence. There is a European treaty for this. Hesse should carry it out in full. There should be enough places in women's shelters. Women with disabilities should also find a place there.

The state is to implement the convention wherever it has authority itself and support municipalities in doing so. Domestic and sexual violence are to be prevented. The SPD also wants to act more strongly against sexual harassment in public spaces and gender-based violence online. Gender-based discrimination in health care is to end, and illnesses that mainly affect women should no longer be taboo. Women refugees are to receive information about their rights and psychosocial support.

The SPD wants to expand the state's action plan for acceptance and diversity and develop a strategy against homophobic and transphobic hate crime. Queer youth services, housing projects and care facilities are to be funded. Queer couples are to be treated equally in foster parenting and fertility treatment.

The SPD wants to protect queer people better. Queer means, for example, gay, lesbian or trans. The police should get permanent contact persons for them. Meeting places for queer young people should get more money. Queer couples should be able to become foster parents more easily.

Full-time contact persons for LGBTIQ* issues are to be set up within the police, and safe spaces are to be expanded. The queer community is to be involved in expanding the action plan. Queer youth projects are to get more money and longer funding periods, and diversity is to become a required topic in the training of youth leaders. Nursing training is to take the needs of queer people into account, especially trans people. In fertility treatment, different family forms are to be treated equally and funding widened. A diverse cultural scene is meant to make Hesse a preferred destination for the community.

The SPD wants to address racism, antisemitism and discrimination through structural measures, since it sees them as a problem of society as a whole. A diversity quota is to apply in the state administration so that people with a migration background are represented there.

The SPD wants to act against racism and unfair treatment. It says the problem affects all of society. More people with a migration background should work in state offices. A quota is planned for this. A quota is a fixed share.

Organizations that work on racism, antisemitism and discrimination are to receive more and permanent funding. The program calls for stronger oversight mechanisms within state institutions. Civic education and educational work against extremism are to be expanded considerably, along with opportunities for dialogue and encounter. The SPD plans a diversity quota for the state administration. Public authorities are also to become diversity-sensitive and build intercultural skills.

The SPD wants to set up anti-discrimination contact points and diversity officers at all universities. Studying and an academic career should be easier to combine with family life. A state program is meant to raise the share of women in academia.

Everyone should have the same chances at universities. The SPD wants advice and complaint offices everywhere. Universities should become barrier-free. Parents should get more daycare places and more part-time study options. Women in science should get more support.

The platform's guiding principle is equal opportunity regardless of gender, skin color, social background and sexual identity. Barrier-free conversion of university buildings and accessible teaching are to receive more support. For university members with children, the SPD wants more daycare places, including early and late hours, more part-time study and more family-friendly degree programs. A dedicated state program is to support women researchers in early career stages.