news Austria to compensate gay men convicted under discriminatory laws

[Genius1111]

Austria to compensate gay men convicted under discriminatory laws | Euronews

 

 

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Compensation and reparation

Austria's Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, which is part of the national budget in 2024, will see compensation payment of €3,000 for each overturned judgment, €1500 for each year spent in jail or €500 for each investigation initiated under the relevant criminal paragraphs. 

 

A flat rate of €1,500 is also intended to compensate people who have suffered from professional, economic or health disadvantages.

 

The Ministry of Justice expects around 11,000 applications for criminal rehabilitation and compensation. The costs for this are estimated at €10.8 million in the coming year and €3 million in each of the following years with €33 million marked for the compensation fund altogether.

 

 

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Good, but good enough?

Although the compensation marks a landmark victory for LGBTQ+ and human rights groups in Austria, some still see the compensation as just one remedy for a community that has been dealing with discrimination for decades.

 

“People were unjustly imprisoned here and were unable to work during this time. It is therefore essential that the periods of imprisonment are credited towards the pensions.” Ann-Sophie Otte, chairwoman of the Homosexual Initiative in Vienna told Euronews.

 

"The fines imposed must also be repaid with interest. We very much hope that the rehabilitation and compensation will also be followed by an apology from the National Council, because after all, it was the National Council that passed these laws in the first place," she said. 

 

LGBTQ+ rights organisation Rechtskomitee, who were instrumental in repealing the criminal codes up until 2002, also celebrated the compensation, but pointed out how the amount of compensation the Austrian government is offering falls far short of the numbers calculated by the European Court of Human Rights.

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Genius1111

[BionicWooHoo]

Change the text color if you want ppl to read the post 

[CBC]

well done 

[Anthinos]

Good 

 

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After the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1971, four new criminal provisions were added to Austria's criminal code, each specifically directed at the prosecution of gay men by targeting an aspect of sexuality that was not the same for heterosexual people or lesbians.

 

A special age limit for gay relationships was established at 18, compared with 14 for heterosexuals and lesbians, while gay prostitution was criminalised, unlike lesbian and heterosexual prostitution. Also criminalised was the approval, or advertisement of fornication with the same-sex, and the founding or membership of LGBTQ+ associations.

 

Whilst the last of these provisions was appealed in 2002, the criminal record and sentences were not, and some people who were convicted spent time in institutions branded as 'mentally abnormal criminals." 

Disgusting. Homophobia shouldn't be tolerated. We should have the same rights as straight people and hate speech against gay people should be punished. It disgusts me how it's still okay to be homophobic in real life and especially on the internet and okay for politicians to use us as a punching bag. 

[harwee]

That last paragraph

 

 

Good enough I guess. 

[Arthoe]

Germany had a similar program the last 6 years and it didn't work at all. Most gays who were convicted under discriminatory laws have passed away in the AIDS crisis of the 80's, 90's and early 2000's already or have commited suicide after the conviction because they were outed. 90% of the money that was allocated for the compensation fund was not used at all and went back to the government.

 

While of course, these programs are necessary for people who have endured and are entitled to the compensation, they're also lowkey pinkwashing, advanced virtue signalling. The governments can scrub their Wikipedia pages clean about human rights violations, pretend like they actually did something to the community, pay a few people hush money and then collect the rest of their money again after a few years. 

 

The majority of the community is still suffering, mostly in silence and fear because of the meteoric rise of anti-queer facist ideology its resulting increasing violence and hostility. Not a week goes by where you don't hear about queer Holocaust memorials being destroyed in Germany or Austria. Not a week goes by without reading articles about people being beat up in public parks or public transport in any larger German speaking city for "looking" queer.