Date:         Wed, 19 Oct 1994 14:20:04 -0700

Germany Gets 1st Gay Lawmaker

by The Associated Press, R
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 94

        BONN, Germany (AP) -- Volker Beck no longer has to settle for
speaking at gay rights rallies. Parliament is now his rostrum.

        On Sunday, Beck became the first open homosexual to win a seat
in the Bundestag, parliament's lawmaking lower chamber.

        His election to the Bundestag is an important advance for German
homosexuals, thought to comprise up to one-tenth of the 80 million
population.

        In view of the Nazis' persecution of homosexuals, the
33-year-old Beck says modern Germany has a moral obligation toward
people like himself. A member of the Greens, he says he will defend
all minorities during his four-year term.

        ``All minority groups in Germany feel left out, whether they are
gays, refugees or the handicapped,'' Beck said Monday.

        The Bundestag is a staid place, where the costume of choice is a
suit and bland speeches a staple. But the influx of varied new
faces after the election Sunday could give the debates a new spark
of life.

        Of 672 delegates, 176 are women -- including newcomer Dagmar
Woehrl, who was Miss Germany in 1977.

        Two second-generation children of Turkish immigrants, Cem
Ozdemir of the left-wing Greens and Leyla Onur of the Social
Democrats, will also take their place in the Bundestag.

        The Greens -- a tie-dyed party that sprang from the 1960s peace
movement -- increased their seats from eight to 49.

        Beck will push for legalizing same-sex marriages so homosexuals
can have the same rights as heterosexual married couples.

        Current laws do not protect a homosexual from testifying against
his or her partner in a court of law, or from being thrown out of
an apartment if the partner dies.

        A foreigner can get an automatic residence permit if married to
a German -- but the same doesn't go for homosexuals.

        Chancellor Helmut Kohl's conservative Christian Democrats say
same-sex marriages threaten family values.

        Beck is aware that he might not be completely welcome in the
Bundestag.

        ``I am prepared for the possibility that some right-wingers in
the CDU (Kohl's party) will whisper to each other stupid men's
jokes when I deliver a speech. In my mind, these kinds of people
make fools of themselves,'' he said.