Since 2020, there has been a legal ban on conversion treatments in Germany – euphemistically also called “conversion therapies”. In 2019, the Federal Foundation made a significant contribution to the ban law with its scientific inventory commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Health. On this page you will also find out how we have been working to improve protection against conversion efforts since then.
Position paper from experts on the amendment of the law for protection against conversion therapies 2024
A group of experts from numerous specialist organizations (including the BMH) has been working since the end of 2022 on a position paper aimed at the revision of the law for protection against conversion therapies (KonvBehSchG) announced by the federal government for the legislative period 2021-2025. It contains 15 demands outlining what, from the experts’ perspective, needs to be implemented in the areas of legal protection, support for affected individuals, and education, research, and awareness-raising during the legislative amendment process.
On the Website of the research project “Conversion Therapies: Contexts.” Practices. Biographies.” by Mosaik Deutschland e.V., you can view the 15 demands of the expert group as well as the list of supporting institutions. The BMH is one of the initial signatory institutions of the paper.
The demands were submitted to the federal government and the parliamentary groups of the governing coalition at the end of March 2024 and subsequently published.
The press release from the BMH dated March 25, 2024, regarding the position paper can be found in the press section.
Unterstützen Sie den Schutz vor Konversionsmaßnahmen!
Academic overview 2019
Project “Academic overview of the factual and legal aspects of options for taking action, including international experience, regarding the planned ‘Prohibition of so-called ‘conversion therapies’ in Germany to protect homosexual men, women, adolescents and young adults from being treated as pathological and from discrimination”
expert commission appointed
At the suggestion of our foundation, Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn appointed an expert commission consisting of 46 members as part of the project.
Read the press release of the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) on the occasion of the appointment of the expert commission on 10 April 2019 here.
The commission sat all day on 8 May and 5 June 2019 in Berlin:
Here you can find the agendas of the expert exchange of the commission on the planned legal ban on so-called “conversion therapies”
• Agenda of the 1st commission meeting, May 8, 2019
• Agenda of the 2nd commission meeting, June 5, 2019
Two expert reports commissioned
As part of the scientific inventory, the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld also commissioned two expert reports. These were presented to the Federal Ministry of Health on June 11, 2019:
• Prof. Dr. med. Peer Briken, Director of the Institute for Sexual Research and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE): Brief report on the question of the evidence-based nature and possible harm from or through so-called “conversion therapies” against homosexuality
• Prof. Dr. Martin Burgi, Chair of Public Law, Commercial Administrative Law, Environmental and Social Law, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU): Brief report on the question of the constitutional admissibility of a ban on so-called “conversion therapies” against homosexuality
The Federal Ministry of Health published a press release on this on 11 June 2019
final report prepared
The 326-page final report of our scientific inventory was submitted to the Federal Ministry of Health on August 30, 2019. In addition to the above-mentioned expert opinions, it also contains numerous scientific contributions from members of the expert commission as well as the summarized recommendations of the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld for a legal ban on conversion treatments. You can download the final report free of charge.
Contact for questions about the project
