What do the parties in Hesse say on equality and diversity?

The AfD wants to end state programs that promote acceptance of homosexual and transgender people among children of kindergarten and elementary school age. It calls this early sexualization and says judging lifestyles and sexuality is up to parents alone.

The state has programs for daycare centers and elementary schools. They promote acceptance of gay and transgender people. The AfD wants to end these programs. It says only parents should talk to small children about these topics.

The AfD wants to stop funding gender studies programs, professorships and research projects and redirect the money to STEM fields. Gender-inclusive language should no longer be used by public authorities or public broadcasters.

The AfD wants to stop spending money on gender research. The money should go to subjects like math and technology. Public offices and public broadcasters should stop using gender-inclusive language. That means special word forms meant to include all genders. At universities, it should play no role in grades.

The AfD wants to stop the muezzin's call to prayer and ban full-face veils in public. Headscarves would also be banned in the civil service and for children under 14 in public institutions. Sharia courts, child marriages and polygamous marriages are to be stopped.

The AfD wants to ban the muezzin's call. That is the Islamic call to prayer. Women should not be allowed to cover their whole face in public. Headscarves should be banned for people working for the state. This should also apply to children under 14 in public institutions.

The AfD rejects gender quotas in higher education, work and politics, as well as women-only degree programs. In its view, women should prevail through performance, and plans for the advancement of women should serve only as guidance. Women who choose family over a career should not be disadvantaged and should receive basic financial security.

The AfD is against quotas for women. A quota sets how many jobs go to women. The AfD says performance should decide. Women should choose for themselves whether to work or be a housewife and mother. Housewives and mothers should not become poor.

The AfD wants to reduce pay differences between women and men for equal performance. Flexible return-to-work models and more child care are meant to make it easier for women to come back and advance. Single parents should get priority for child care places and schools.

Women and men should earn the same for the same performance. Women should be able to return to work more easily after a break. There should be more child care for this. Single parents should be first in line for a place in day care or school.

The AfD wants to renovate, expand and keep funding women's shelters and counseling centers. Awareness programs in schools and clubs are meant to protect against violence and discrimination, and doctors would have to report genital mutilation to the authorities. Prevention of sexual abuse is also to be stepped up.

The AfD wants to protect women better from violence. There should be more and better women's shelters. Women find safety there. Schools and clubs should teach about violence. Doctors should report genital mutilation to the authorities. Victims of abuse should get more help.

The CDU opposes gender-inclusive spellings using special characters such as colons or underscores at Hesse's schools. Only the official spelling rules are to apply; in the party's view such spellings make reading harder.

Some people write words with a colon or underscore to include all genders. The CDU does not want this at schools. It says this makes reading harder. Schools should follow only the official spelling rules.

The CDU rejects making gender-inclusive language with special characters mandatory at Hessian universities. Those who do not use it should face no disadvantages such as lower grades; the rules of the Council for German Orthography are to apply.

Nobody at universities should have to use gender spelling. This means writing with asterisks or similar signs. People who do not use it should not get a worse grade. The official spelling rules should apply.

The CDU wants to launch an alliance for values lived in everyday life to strengthen respect, consideration and civic courage. It commits to an open society, opposes all forms of discrimination and wants to review age limits.

The CDU wants more respect and cohesion in daily life. It wants to found an alliance with towns, clubs, churches and the media. Nobody should be treated unfairly, for example because of age, religion or sexual orientation. The CDU wants to review age limits.

The CDU wants everyone to be addressed in a gender-fair way but rejects any obligation to use gender-inclusive forms with special characters. In its view, language should unite, so it wants to use German according to the established rules.

The CDU does not want a duty to use gender forms with special characters. These are, for example, asterisks or colons inside words. This applies above all to schools and universities. The CDU says language should bring people together.

The CDU wants to reduce differences between women and men in pay and leadership positions. It wants to attract more women to STEM careers and business start-ups, ease the return to work after family leave, and have home care count more toward pensions.

Women often earn less than men. The CDU wants to change that. More women should become bosses. More young women should choose technical jobs. People who care for relatives should get a higher pension.

The CDU wants to better protect women from violence, especially domestic violence. Hotlines, counseling centers and women's shelters are to be kept and expanded where needed.

The CDU wants to protect women from violence. There are hotlines and advice centers for women. There are also women's shelters. This help should stay. Where needed, there should be more of it.

The CDU wants to fight racism, hate and discrimination and implement Hesse's anti-discrimination strategy. Counseling services and the reporting office "Hessen gegen Hetze" (Hesse against hate speech) are to be strengthened. It wants to record violence against LGBTQ people more clearly and update the action plan for acceptance and diversity.

The CDU is against racism and hate. It wants to strengthen advice centers for this. There is an office where people can report hate speech. It should become better known. Queer people should also be better protected from violence.

The CDU wants to give special support to clubs that create inclusive sports programs for people with disabilities. The program "Sport integriert Hessen" for refugees, people with a migration background and socially disadvantaged people is to be expanded.

The CDU wants to support sports for people with disabilities. Clubs with such programs get special help. Guides will show people with disabilities the way to sports. Refugees and immigrants should also find it easier to join sports clubs.

Citing Europe's Jewish heritage and Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust, the CDU sees a special duty toward Jewish life in Hesse. It wants to protect Jewish institutions, strengthen the office of the antisemitism commissioner, and further develop the state treaty with the Jewish communities.

The CDU wants to give Jewish people in Hesse special protection. Synagogues and Jewish schools should be protected too. There is a commissioner against hatred of Jews. This office should become stronger.

The CDU rejects requiring gender-inclusive spelling with special characters in official administrative language. Its reasoning is that a language that is imposed and hard to understand loses its purpose.

Some people write words with a star or colon to include all genders. The CDU does not want to make this a rule in government offices. It says language must be easy to understand. Offices should write by the normal rules.

The FDP wants sex education that covers sexual diversity and menstruation in depth. A state program is to make free period products available in educational institutions.

Classes should talk about sexual diversity. Periods should be a topic too. The FDP wants free pads and tampons at schools. A state program should pay for this.

The FDP calls for the Istanbul Convention on violence against women and domestic violence to be implemented quickly and fully in Hesse as well. This includes more places in women's shelters and anonymous, free evidence collection after sexual violence.

The FDP wants to protect women better from violence. There should be more places in women's shelters. Victims should be able to have evidence secured for free and without giving their name. They do not have to file a police report for this.

The FDP calls for equal pay for equal performance and wants to improve women's economic opportunities. It names statewide expansion of childcare as the key prerequisite; employers should disclose salary ranges and the criteria for pay grading.

Women and men should get the same pay for the same performance. The FDP wants more childcare all over Hesse. Then parents can work more easily. Employers should say how much a job pays.

The FDP favors diversity management across all job functions but does not want to mandate it by regulation. The state should moderate, inform and support low-cost concepts for small and midsize businesses.

Diversity management means companies support the variety of their staff. The FDP likes this idea. But the state should not order it. It should inform and share good examples. Small and midsize companies should get simple concepts.

The FDP expects the public sector to implement equal treatment and diversity management in an exemplary way. This includes flexible working hours, equal representation of women in leadership, job sharing at management level and better conditions for part-time staff.

Public offices should be a role model for equal rights. The FDP wants as many women as men in leadership there. Two people should be able to share one management job. People who work part-time should not be at a disadvantage.

The FDP wants to further develop Hesse's Action Plan for Diversity and Acceptance and remove structural barriers to equality for LGBTI people. With legal equality achieved, the party says the focus should now be on full participation in society.

The FDP wants to do more for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people. Hesse has an action plan for this. The FDP wants to improve the plan. Small groups should also get money for their work more easily.

The FDP wants Hesse's administration not to make it harder for trans people to establish their identity, and it welcomes the federal government's planned Self-Determination Act. Hesse should also work to end surgeries that assign a sex to intersex children.

Trans people should decide about their gender themselves. Offices in Hesse should not make this hard for them. The FDP likes the planned federal Self-Determination Act. Intersex children should no longer be forced to have surgery.

The FDP wants digital solutions to be accessible and to exclude no one. Algorithms in publicly funded projects should not entrench discrimination and should be transparent to the public.

Digital services should be usable for everyone. This includes people with disabilities. Computer programs should not treat anyone unfairly. In government projects, everyone should be able to check how the programs decide.

The Greens want to create an anti-discrimination law for Hesse and strengthen the state's anti-discrimination office. In the state constitution, protection against discrimination is to be broadened and the term "race" replaced.

The Greens want a new law against discrimination. Discrimination means people are treated worse, for example because of where they come from. The law should protect those affected. The word "race" should be removed from the Hesse constitution.

The Greens want to broaden the Action Plan for Acceptance and Diversity and reduce discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Anti-queer crimes are to be recorded separately and prosecuted by a specialized prosecutor's office.

The Greens want to protect queer people better. Queer people are, for example, lesbians, gay men and trans people. There should be more advice and help. The police should count crimes against queer people separately.

The Greens want to keep supporting Jewish communities and help make Jewish life in Hesse safe and visible. They affirm Israel's right to exist, reject the BDS campaign and want to expand exchange with Israel.

Jewish people should be able to live safely in Hesse. The Greens want to keep supporting Jewish communities. They want to fight hatred of Jews. Hesse and Israel should work closely together.

The Greens want to reduce discrimination at universities, strengthen anti-discrimination officers and support women's academic careers. International students and researchers are to be welcomed, and those who have fled their countries are to keep receiving scholarships.

The Greens want less discrimination at universities. Anti-discrimination officers should get more powers. Women in science should get support. Refugee researchers and students keep getting scholarships.

The Greens want women to be better represented in politics, business and culture. State-owned companies are to fill half of their board seats with women, the equal rights act is to be developed further, and the party backs steps toward gender-balanced parliaments.

The Greens want more women in important positions. In state-owned companies, half of the board members should be women. More women should sit in parliaments too. Women's officers in towns should get more weight.

The Greens want to close the pay gap between women and men and encourage a more equal split of family and care work. Single parents are to be supported through counseling and more childcare.

On average, women earn less than men. The Greens want to change that. Men and women should share family work more fairly. There should be more childcare, also early, late and on weekends. Single parents should find help more easily.

The Greens want more women in technical and scientific jobs, in professorships and among founders. At the same time, care professions are to be upgraded and more boys and men recruited for childcare and nursing.

More women should work in technology and science. At universities, every second professor should be a woman. Women who start a business should get more help. More men should work in nursing and childcare.

The Greens want to fully implement the Istanbul Convention and expand support services for women affected by violence across Hesse. An emergency program is to create 300 additional family places in shelters and transitional housing.

Many women and children face violence at home. The Greens want more places in women's shelters. An emergency program should quickly add 300 places for families. Counseling centers and helplines should also get more money.

The Greens want killings of women because of their gender, and attempts at them, to be listed separately in crime statistics. A Hesse femicide study is to accompany this and provide a basis for prevention. Prevention work and offender programs are also to be expanded.

Some women are killed because they are women. This is called femicide. The Greens want to count these crimes separately. A study should show how to prevent them. Work with offenders should also be expanded.

The Greens want rape victims everywhere in Hesse to get quick medical help and have evidence secured without having to file a police report. At the federal level, the party wants to push for a reform of the rape provision in criminal law so that offenders can be convicted more easily.

After a rape, victims need help fast. The Greens want this help to be available all over Hesse. Doctors should secure evidence even without a police report. The law on rape should also change. Courts should then be able to convict offenders more easily.

The Greens want to take action against human trafficking and better protect women from prostitution driven by poverty or coercion. Those who want to leave prostitution are to receive counseling, medical care and courses. Projects against female genital mutilation are to keep receiving funding.

The Greens want to fight human trafficking. Women should not be forced into prostitution. Women who want to stop should get help. This includes counseling, health care and language courses. They should also get help finding housing and work.

The Greens want to protect Jews and Jewish sites and fight antisemitism as a societal problem. Antisemitic crimes and incidents are to be recorded, and reporting and counseling centers funded. Education and prevention programs are to be supported.

Jewish people should be able to live safely in Hesse. The Greens want to protect Jewish places. They want to fight hatred of Jews. Attacks and incidents should be counted. There should be money for reporting centers and advice.

The Greens want to develop an action plan against racism for all of Hesse together with researchers and associations. They want to raise awareness that certain terms are hurtful and discriminatory. According to the platform, the goal is a diverse and inclusive society.

The Greens want to act against racism. They want to make a plan for all of Hesse. Researchers and associations should help. People should understand that some words hurt others. All people should have equal rights and respect.

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 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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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.

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.