Where does Germany’s Friedrich Merz stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

• Conservatives win election, with far-right in second place
• Merz, set to be next chancellor, favours curbing LGBTQ+ rights
• Merz will struggle to secure support for rollbacks

BERLIN - The conservative bloc won Germany's election last Sunday but its leader Friedrich Merz, set to become the next chancellor, may struggle to secure enough support from other parties to implement the LGBTQ+ rights rollbacks he promised voters.

Merz faces complex and lengthy coalition negotiations after the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) surged to a historic second place in a fractured vote after the collapse of chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way alliance.

The CDU/CSU came in first place on 28.6%, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) with 20.8% and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) with 16.4%, according to provisional results.

This means Merz has two options to form a governing coalition: to join forces with the AfD or forge a new "grand coalition" with the SPD - a party that calls for more LGBTQ+ rights protections.

But the conservative German leader has repeatedly ruled out forming a coalition with the AfD, which has enjoyed the endorsement of prominent U.S. figures including tech billionaire Elon Musk, making the second option more likely.

Here is what you need to know about the effect of Merz's election on LGBTQ+ rights.

What is Friedrich Merz’s record on LGBTQ+ rights?

Merz has long been criticised by German LGBTQ+ activists for his personal statements on sexual minorities.

He made headlines in 2001 for the comments he made when asked about Berlin's then mayor Klaus Wowereit coming out as gay. He said at the time "as long as he doesn't come near me, I don't care."

In 2020, when gay CDU politician Jens Spahn was seeking the party leadership, Merz was asked whether he would have reservations about an LGBTQ+ person running the country.

"Sexual orientation is none of the public's business. As long as it is within the framework of the law and as long as it does not affect children - although this is where I reach an absolute limit - it is not a topic for public discussion," Merz said.

Ahead of the 2025 election, Merz was asked in a TV debate about U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to only recognise two legal genders, reversing the previous administration's policy to issue gender-neutral markers for people who identify as non-binary - neither male nor female.

Merz said it was a "decision that I can understand".

His remarks drew criticism from the LGBTQ+ community and his own party members, some of whom rushed to clarify that scrapping non-binary legal recognition - available in Germany since a Constitutional Court ruling in 2017 - wasn't part of the CDU's election manifesto.

What does the CDU/CSU propose on LGBTQ+ rights?

The CDU/CSU bloc has historically voted against most LGBTQ+ rights measures, although some of its members voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in 2017. Both the CDU and their Bavarian CSU counterparts supported a partial ban on conversion therapy in 2020.

During the election campaign, Merz's CDU promised to reverse a new self-determination law, which came into effect in November and makes it easier for trans people to change their legal gender.

The self-ID law allows trans and non-binary people to change their legal gender by simply going to a local registry and declaring the change. Previously, the process could take years and cost thousands of euros.

"In our view, the self-determination law, as it is designed, is wrong, especially as it concerns children," Merz said in an interview with German magazine FOCUS last week.

Under the self-ID law, minors aged 14 and older can also change their identity documents with their legal guardian's consent.

The CDU/CSU also promised to restrict access to gender-affirming care treatments – such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy – for trans minors and to ban the use of gender-neutral language in official communications in schools and public administration.

Can Merz turn election pledges into law?

The conservative bloc has only won 208 out of 630 seats in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, according to provisional results - meaning it will need to partner with other parties to reach a parliamentary majority.

Merz's party wants to ally with Scholz's SPD, a party that vowed to strengthen LGBTQ+ rights protections and is unlikely to support rolling back existing legislation with its 120 seats.

If Merz seeks support from the AfD to pass restrictions on trans rights, he could risk losing SPD support, threatening a government collapse.

Alternatively, the CDU/CSU could decide to go it alone as a minority government and try to gather support from opposition parties to pass specific measures, but a minority government at federal level would be an unprecedented situation in post-World War Two German politics.

Merz has said he aims to have a government in place by late April.

(Reporting by Enrique Anarte in Berlin; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa.)