Lesben- und Schwulenverband (LSVD)

The Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany (Lesben- und Schwulenverband in Deutschland, or just LSVD) is a civil rights organisation representing the interests of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI). Human rights, diversity and respect – we want LGBTI to be accepted and recognized as self-evidently belonging to everSpecific goals of the LSVD include lobbying for Germany’s Basic Law to extend constitutional protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity; programmes at federal and state level to promote acceptance and diversity; legal and social recognition of rainbow families; enforcement of the right to sexual self-determination; LGBTI-inclusive school curricula; refugee policies that provide both protection and opportunity to persecuted LGBTI people; and foreign and development policies that promote respect for the human rights of LGBTI people at EU and global level. Specific goals of the LSVD include lobbying for Germany’s Basic Law to extend constitutional protection against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity; programmes at federal and state level to promote acceptance and diversity; legal and social recognition of rainbow families; enforcement of the right to sexual self-determination; LGBTI-inclusive school curricula; refugee policies that provide both protection and opportunity to persecuted LGBTI people; and foreign and development policies that promote respect for the human rights of LGBTI people at EU and global level. The LSVD has since 1990 been fighting discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our Federation has been a major driver and enabler of changes in Germany: the introduction of same-sex marriage; the General Act on Equal Treatment; the final and complete removal of Section 175 from Germany’s statute books.