Germany’s Green Party has launched an investigation into allegations by Der Spiegel magazine that in their early years they were involved with an organization that lobbied for legalizing sex with children.
Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the Green party's federal office financed an association for "gays, pederasts, and transsexuals" (BAG SchwuP) in its early days as an upstart political force in the 1980s.
BAG SchwuP was openly in favour of legalizing sex with children, the magazine claimed, citing sources from the Green party's own archives.
In 1984, BAG SchwuP was made part of the Green party's parliamentary faction's working group on "Law and Society," and so had an influence on the party's policymaking. A year earlier, an advert for the Green party appeared in the gay magazine Torso which called for legalizing consensual sex with minors.
Newsletters sent by BAG SchwuP - which the party headquarters also received - included pictures of lightly-clad underage boys, the magazine reported. "Politically, the Greens were the only hope for paedophiles," Kurt Hartmann, a former member of BAG SchwuP, told the magazine.
But Jürgen Trittin, the Greens' parliamentary leader and one of two top
candidates in September elections, acknowledged at a press conference, the party had made "bad decisions" on the issue of paedophilia.
He referred in particular to a 1985 decision at a regional party conference in western North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state when delegates argued in favour of consensual sexuality between adults and children to be exempt from punishment.
The party's co-chairman Cem Özdemir said, "The protection of children from sexual abuse was and remains a central concern for us."
Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the Green party's federal office financed an association for "gays, pederasts, and transsexuals" (BAG SchwuP) in its early days as an upstart political force in the 1980s.
BAG SchwuP was openly in favour of legalizing sex with children, the magazine claimed, citing sources from the Green party's own archives.
In 1984, BAG SchwuP was made part of the Green party's parliamentary faction's working group on "Law and Society," and so had an influence on the party's policymaking. A year earlier, an advert for the Green party appeared in the gay magazine Torso which called for legalizing consensual sex with minors.
Newsletters sent by BAG SchwuP - which the party headquarters also received - included pictures of lightly-clad underage boys, the magazine reported. "Politically, the Greens were the only hope for paedophiles," Kurt Hartmann, a former member of BAG SchwuP, told the magazine.
But Jürgen Trittin, the Greens' parliamentary leader and one of two top
candidates in September elections, acknowledged at a press conference, the party had made "bad decisions" on the issue of paedophilia.
He referred in particular to a 1985 decision at a regional party conference in western North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state when delegates argued in favour of consensual sexuality between adults and children to be exempt from punishment.
The party's co-chairman Cem Özdemir said, "The protection of children from sexual abuse was and remains a central concern for us."
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