BERLIN, June 23 (Xinhua) -- The convictions of thousands of individuals prosecuted for their homosexuality in Germany were rescinded in a unanimous vote by the Federal Parliament (Bundestag) on Thursday evening.
The German Federal Council (Bundesrat), the second chamber of parliament in which the country's 16 states are represented, is expected to approve of the law shortly as a final step towards its ratification.
Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code prohibited sexual relations between men before it was softened in 1969 and finally abolished in 1994.
According to estimates, 64,000 individuals were prosecuted under paragraph 175 but it remains unclear exactly how many thereof were still alive by the time of Thursday's decision.
The victims of justice are each to receive a lump sum of 3,000 euros, as well as 1,500 euros for each year of prison time as financial compensation.
The Federal Ministry of Justice expects to receive around 5,000 requests for compensation.
The German Association of Lesbians and Gays (LSVD) described the legislation as a "historic first step towards the rehabilitation of victims of paragraph 175" but also lamented that some issues were left unsolved.
The LSVD criticised the level of financial compensation as too low, as it failed to make up for loss of income experienced by convicts who consequently lost jobs and pension entitlements.
Furthermore, the law was changed at the last minute, under pressure from the conservative CDU/CSU fraction in parliament, to raise the age limit for those involved in homosexual relations who would be rehabilitated to 16 years at the time of the conviction.
The LSVD described this circumstance as "pure discrimination" as it legally enshrined a discrepancy in the age of consent between heterosexuals and homosexuals.
The age of consent for same-sex couples in Germany is 14.
Opposition parties and the SPD voiced similar concerns, with parliamentarian Karl-Heinz Brunner (SPD) calling the amendment to the original bill a "new injustice."
Nonetheless, Helmut Metzner, director of the LSVD, acknowledged that progress had been made towards "giving some victims of state prosecution their dignity back after years of ignorance."
