Then there's this, which actually brought a bit of a tear of happiness to my eye:
I was looking up youth hostels on the Baltic Sea, because I'm planning to take a weekend up there soon, and found myself on the page that explains membership for the German branch of Hostelling International.
It lists various membership rates, including this bit concerning the family rate (my translation):
"In the case of married couples and common-law unions (including same-sex unions), only one partner pays (if at the same address). Partner and underage children receive their own membership cards for free."
(The German word for what I'm terming "common-law" translates literally as "marriage-like" – and this is a very normal thing in Germany, where many long-term, child-rearing couples never marry at all.)
I feel like I complain a lot about Germany lately (and there are certainly things to complain about) but things like this – the legal normalcy of same-sex partnerships – make me happy to be here.
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