Germany: Why the Left Party Is Betraying the LGBTQ+ Movement

The LGBTQ+ movement in Germany—especially trans people—is increasingly being isolated and attacked from all sides. The Self-Determination Act, which was passed only in November 2024 and allows individuals to change their gender and first name by self-declaration to a civil registry office, is now under attack by the Christian Democratic (CDU)/Social Democratic Party (SPD) coalition government. Meanwhile, the “Queer Life” national action plan, which aimed to strengthen the rights of LGBTQ+ people and combat discrimination, has been quietly scrapped. Nearly half the CSD (Gay Pride) parades were attacked by right-wing mobs last year and LGBTQ+ people are not safe from violence on the streets. It is clear to everyone that a future government of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) will completely roll back the limited gains LGBTQ+ people have achieved.

To defend itself, the LGBTQ+ movement looks primarily to the Left Party, which is seen as the force capable of halting the shift in society toward the right and the AfD. This is why the Left Party more than doubled its membership last year, reaching over 110,000. The problem, however, is that the Left Party conflates the necessary defense of LGBTQ+ people with the defense of the liberal political order. It continues to spread the illusion that liberalism can be preserved and that this is in the interest of the LGBTQ+ movement. In so doing, the Left Party clings to a suicidal policy that turns trans people into scapegoats for the current crisis and strengthens the AfD. The Left Party’s support for the “firewall” strategy—a call for German mainstream parties to band together against the far right—is a fatal expression of its adaptation to the declining order. This must end. The Left Party needs a radical change of course, which the LGBTQ+ movement must fight for now.

How the LGBTQ+ Movement Became Chained to Capitalist Interests

Over the past 30 years, there have been gradual, limited reforms for LGBTQ+ people. Why was the ruling class willing to make these concessions? The decisive factor was its ideological shift following the counterrevolutions in the Soviet Union, the Eastern Bloc and East Germany. The German bourgeoisie no longer needed anti-communism and now sought to portray Germany as the world’s best democracy, one that had learned from the Holocaust and World War II. This had some positive effects for the LGBTQ+ movement: In 1994, Section 175 was repealed. Dating back to the 19th century, this provision prohibited sex between men and was also used later to persecute leftists, both under the Nazis and after 1945. In 2001, same-sex partnerships were legally recognized, and in 2017, same-sex couples were officially granted the right to marry. The reactionary provisions of the Transsexuals Act, which had been in force since 1981 and required numerous humiliating proofs and medical evaluations to change one’s gender and name, were progressively relaxed and then replaced by the Self-Determination Act.

The reformed, democratic image that those in power projected served the purpose of advancing globalization. United with the U.S. and following in its wake (protected by the U.S. military stationed around the world), German capital conquered new markets, for example in Eastern Europe. These economic offensives abroad went hand in hand with predatory practices at home. Workers’ gains came under massive attack. At the same time, nearly every town hall was decked out in rainbow flags. The LGBTQ+ movement was made the poster child for liberal values that the EU would enforce. Anyone who criticized the imperialist oppression of weaker countries like Hungary, or the intensified exploitation of the working class through outsourcing and contract labor, was branded as racist, transphobic or hostile to queer people, particularly by social democrats of all stripes. This liberal propaganda helped pave the way for the AfD to be founded and begin growing rapidly.

Now that capitalists worldwide are abandoning their liberal course and quickly severing their ties with the LGBTQ+ movement, the catastrophic consequences are becoming clear. The LGBTQ+ movement is isolated, under attack, and trans people in particular are being made scapegoats for capitalist misery. This helps the ruling class push through its reactionary Trump-style shift and build up the AfD.

The “Firewall” Endangers LGBTQ+ People

As a measure against the violent attacks on Pride parades and LGBTQ+ people, the Left Party submitted a motion to the Bundestag (German parliament) last fall, reminding Chancellor Merz of his noble promises to do everything possible to ensure a safe life for LGBTQ+ people in Germany. Meanwhile, Maik Brückner, the Left Party’s spokesperson on queer politics and member of the Bundestag, seeks to save the “Queer Life” action plan by begging the relevant CDU minister to follow the course of the “Progress Coalition” of the SPD, Free Democrats and Greens that governed from 2021 to 2025. This shows how the Left Party, full of suicidal illusions, is counting on the government to defend LGBTQ+ people—the very same force that seeks to and will enforce attacks on LGBTQ+ facilities, healthcare and legal equality.

Behind this lies the Left Party leaders’ program of defending the liberal order. They hark back to the “good old days” when Angela Merkel shifted the CDU to the left. However, the conditions under which reforms for the LGBTQ+ movement were possible are irretrievably gone. Under pressure from U.S. imperialism, which needs Trump to maintain its dominance over the world, the German capitalists are destroying their own economy (especially through sanctions against Russia) and pushing through massive austerity measures to pay for militarization. Germany, an economically and militarily weaker junior partner, cannot end the alliance with the U.S.

The idea that the government could go back to standing up for the LGBTQ+ movement is closely linked to the disastrous “firewall” policy: the Left Party claims that unity with all other political parties against the right is necessary to stop the AfD. Around the time of the Bundestag elections in winter 2025, hundreds of thousands took to the streets for democracy with light chains and rainbow flags to show that any party was worth voting for—except, of course, the AfD. However, these demonstrations did not stop the AfD because they promoted the very parties—such as the SPD, the Left Party, the Greens and the CDU—that are primarily responsible for the country’s plight. Workers in particular feel rightly betrayed by their traditional parties, the SPD and Left Party, since these parties have supported and waged attacks on their living and working conditions for decades. Some 38% of workers voted for the AfD in the federal elections (in contrast, the Left Party received only 8% of working-class votes).

Currently the Left Party is going along with almost every dirty trick the government pulls (pension reform, the appointment of judges, arms deliveries to Ukraine…) and justifies this by saying that anything is better than the AfD getting in. Many LGBTQ+ people initially agree with this argument out of legitimate concern about a potential AfD government. But the obvious problem is that the Left Party’s political unity with the government is doing nothing to stop the AfD. Quite the contrary. The AfD can thus continue to present itself as the sole opposition to the hated status quo and to the government, gaining a huge number of new supporters, especially among workers. The “firewall” policy against the right is thus paving the way for an AfD government.

Within the left, the LGBTQ+ movement must fight for a new course that puts an end to the “firewall” policy, shatters illusions in the old liberal order and embarks on a revolutionary path.

We Can Only Defend Ourselves in Alliance with the Labor Movement

What is actually needed is a broad defensive struggle against the government and the status quo. Not only has the LGBTQ+ movement been singled out as a target, but so have other minorities, women and the working class. The LGBTQ+ movement alone does not have the power to stand up to the reactionary capitalist offensive and therefore needs the labor movement at its side. The working class is the only force with the power to hit the capitalists where it hurts—their profits—especially through effective strikes which can compel them to back down.

But how can the LGBTQ+ movement reach workers, including those who already support the AfD? The left’s approach so far won’t work. It doesn’t help to try to impose woke ideas on workers or even start berating them if they think differently or don’t use gender-neutral language. Workers don’t have to become enlightened liberals to recognize the need to defend the LGBTQ+ movement. It is in workers’ own class interests to protect the material conditions and rights of LGBTQ+ people. This is what must be emphasized to win over workers. If the capitalists get away with attacks against oppressed minorities like trans people, then they will have a much easier time further driving down the working and living conditions of everyone. The labor and LGBTQ+ movements will either be defeated separately or go forward together.

For example, defending the Self-Determination Act is important for the labor movement to preserve its own democratic rights, which are also under attack. In the public sector, Berufsverbote (employment bans) have been imposed on workers in recent years for holding “extremist” views. These particularly target left-wing, Muslim and pro-Palestinian workers and weaken the labor movement as a whole. All workers have an interest in opposing this. It is none of the bosses’ business what a worker’s political or religious beliefs are. Likewise, all workers should defend provisions that protect transgender people from having to disclose their birth name and gender to employers even after transitioning, setting them up for attacks or unwanted outings in the workplace.

The fact that trans people are now being turned into scapegoats by the right wing only serves the ruling class. They are the ones who benefit when different segments of the population are pitted against one another and when conservative family values come back in vogue. This is how they advance their reactionary agenda. To build broad unity against the capitalists and their government, the labor movement needs the most oppressed layers of society on its side, including LGBTQ+ people.

Everyone knows we are light-years away from this necessary unity. The problem is that the leadership of the Left Party (as well as the union leaders) supports not only the “firewall” but also, as a matter of principle, the government’s pro-NATO course, which is concretely expressed in their solidarity with Ukraine and their support for sanctions against Russia that are directly leading to further misery. This is why the Left Party leadership does not want to stir up political turmoil within the unions against the SPD, which still holds the top positions in the unions and seeks to stabilize the government in which it is itself represented. This is also why all the strikes of recent years have been sold out, and the consequences of the multiple crises have been borne by the population. And so the Left Party is making itself even more unpopular among workers, who continue to turn to the AfD. The only way for the LGBTQ+ component of the Left Party to break out of the liberal mold and win over workers is by fighting for a militant leadership that stands against NATO and German imperialism.

Fight for a New Leadership of the Left Party!

The current leadership around Heidi Reichinnek, Jan van Aken and Ines Schwerdtner drapes itself in the colors of queer liberation but betrays it through its “firewall” policy and its defense of the crumbling liberal order. Its betrayal of the Palestine movement also does absolutely nothing to win over Muslims as allies. We need a genuine opposition party that is attractive to workers and the oppressed and truly defends the LGBTQ+ movement.

The left wing of the Left Party, which does consistently oppose militarization, rearmament and NATO, has so far shied away from the struggle for leadership and is trying to convince the right wing and the leadership through heated debates. We can and must win over individual members to our side, especially LGBTQ+ members who are looking for a real way out. But the leadership of the Left Party has, in practice, decided to defend the interests of German imperialism. This is evident once again as they refuse to defend Iran against the imperialists. The likes of Schwerdtner, van Aken and Reichinnek do not belong in a party that calls itself left wing.

There is agreement on this with some youth organizations of the Left Party and with revolutionary groups such as Sozialistische Organisation Solidarität (part of the Committee for a Workers International), the Gruppe ArbeiterInnenmacht (Workers Power), and the Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation (affiliated with the Permanent Revolution current), who, like us, are active within the Left Party and fight for LGBTQ+ liberation. All revolutionaries must now unite within the left wing to form a powerful current and coordinate the struggle for a change of course. Pride-Rebellion (affiliated with the socialist group Young Struggle), another significant revolutionary group fighting for queer liberation that stands outside the Left Party, must also join the struggle. However, these groups still advocate a liberal program on many points (such as support for the “firewall” policy or demands for “open borders”). This undermines the struggle against unity with the right wing and the party’s pro-imperialist leadership. We can only move forward if we break the chains that bind us, through the Left Party leadership, to the government and thus to the capitalists. This is the only way to truly defend LGBTQ+ and build the revolutionary party needed to liberate all the oppressed.