Chancellor prompted snap vote by allowing party and coalition partners 'vote of conscience'
Angela Merkel votes against gay marriage: 'Marriage is between a man and woman'
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Angela Merkel has voted against same-sex marriage in Germany because she believes that “marriage is between a man and woman”.
Despite her opposition, the Bundestag voted to legalise equal marriage by 393 votes to 226, and the Chancellor said she hoped the move would improve social cohension.
“For me, marriage in German law is marriage between a man and a woman and that is why I did not vote in favour of this bill today,” she told reporters moments after the historic vote.
“I hope that the vote today not only promotes respect between different opinions but also brings more social cohesion and peace.”
The Chancellor said she supported the bill’s introduction of full adoption rights for same-sex couples – a move she had previously opposed – and was fighting anti-LGBT discrimination.
Hundreds of members of the Bundestag rose to their feet in a spontaneous standing ovation when the result was announced, as the Green party launched rainbow confetti and celebrated with a cake.
Members of the public in the viewing gallery embraced and cheered, while celebrations broke out in Berlin's streets.
Ms Merkel had freed her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) from the party whip on the issue, calling for a “vote of conscience”.
The centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which is governing in a coalition with the CDU/CSU, read the statement as permission to launch the snap vote.
Johannes Kahrs, an SPD politician known for his LGBT campaigning, launched a blistering attack on Ms Merkel over “embarrassing” delays to the legislation.
He finished his impassioned speech with: “Frau Merkel, thanks for nothing.”
But political analysts said that despite condemnation from critics over her no vote, Ms Merkel had trodden a careful line on same-sex marriage just three months before national elections.
While endearing herself to right-wing voters on a personal level, she ultimately allowed the vote to happen by freeing the SPD from their obligation as a coalition partner not to put the bill forward.
The Chancellor had previously accused the SPD of “ambushing” her by bringing forward the vote.
“It's sad and completely unnecessary...that such a decision has turned into a political confrontation at the very moment when there was a realistic outlook for a process that could have crossed party lines,” Ms Merkel told Wirtschaftswoche magazine earlier in the week.
“Every member of parliament should be able to follow their conscience.”
The issue has divided her party, which remains the largest in the German parliament and has enjoyed comfortable poll leads and local election victories ahead of September’s federal elections.
Germany has allowed same-sex couples to enter civil partnerships since 2001, but same-sex marriages remain illegal.
The draft law legalising same-sex marriage, which was first moved in 2015 in the upper house of parliament by the state of Rhineland Palatinate, will be signed into law by the President after 7 July.