Germany Pushes LGBTQ+ Rights As Mercedes Car Sales Weaken

Germany's center-left wants to add sexual identity to the constitution’s anti-discrimination protections. The push comes as part of the response to a deadly weekend attack near Pride celebrations in Berlin. DW has more.

SPD renews demand for constitutional LGBTQ+ protections as Mercedes reports mixed quarterly results.

Source : DW

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Key points generated by AI, verified by newsroom

• SPD renews push for LGBTQ+ constitutional anti-discrimination protection.

• Germany's Social Democratic Party wants sexual identity added to Article 3 of the German constitution
• The article already bans discrimination on grounds such as race, religion and sex
• The conservative CSU wants talks on ankle tags for extremist threats after a deadly attack on a Berlin LGBTQ+ event
• The suspect in that attack had been sentenced in May for trying to join "Islamic State," but was not immediately jailed
• Mercedes-Benz vehicle group profits rose for the first time in three years, despite a slump in China sales

 

Mercedes profit rises, but car business slumps

Mercedes-Benz has reported its first rise in quarterly group profit in three years, although its main car business suffered a sharp fall as sales in China weakened.

The German carmaker's overall net profit rose 13.5% to €1.09 billion ($1.24 billion) between April and June, up from €957 million in the same period last year.

The increase was driven by stronger results from Mercedes' vans and financial services businesses.

But earnings at the company's core passenger-car division fell 26% to €909 million as intense competition and weak demand continued to hit sales in China.

Mercedes also wrote €704 million off the value of its Chinese investments. The non-cash charge indicates that the company expects the difficult market conditions to persist.

Once that write-down is included, profit at the car division fell by almost 94%.

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Bavarian conservatives seek ankle tags for extremist threats

The conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) has called for talks within Germany’s ruling coalition on using electronic ankle tags to monitor people deemed extremist security threats.

The call follows an attack near Berlin's Christopher Street Day LGBTQ+ Pride parade on Saturday.

Alexander Hoffmann, the head of the CSU group in parliament, raised the proposal in an interview with broadcaster Deutschlandfunk. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, also of the CSU, has previously floated the idea.

The CSU is the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats, who rule with the backing of the center-left Social Democrats.

A woman was killed and 29 people were injured, some seriously, when a vehicle was driven into people near the CSD event.

The 21-year-old suspected attacker, Abdul B., was sentenced in May 2026 to one year and 10 months in juvenile detention for attempting to join the "Islamic State" militant terror group.

However, the sentence was imposed with a provisional form of suspension under juvenile law, so he was not immediately sent to prison. The judgment was also not yet final because prosecutors had appealed

Abdul B. died the day after the attack after being shot by police officers who confronted him.

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SPD renews push for constitutional protection of LGBTQ+ people

Germany's Social Democrats have renewed calls to add sexual identity to the constitution's anti-discrimination protections following the deadly attack near Berlin's Christopher Street Day LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations.

Center-left Social Democrat (SPD) co-leaders Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil, as well as the party’s General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf said they would put the proposed amendment "firmly back on the political agenda."

"We want to further strengthen the political protection of queer people," they said in a statement seen by the DPA news agency.

The SPD has previously called for sexual identity to be added to Article 3 of Germany's constitution, known as the Basic Law. The article prohibits discrimination on grounds including sex, ancestry, language, origin, faith and political beliefs.

Left Party leader Luigi Pantisano made a similar demand on Monday, saying his party was ready to help secure the two-thirds majority needed in parliament.

Changes to Germany's constitution require a two-thirds majority in both the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, the two chambers of the German parliament.

The governing coalition, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc, would not have enough votes on its own.

Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.