Members of the Berlin faction of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) voted against gay marriage in a poll Friday, denting hopes the chancellor’s staunch opposition could be swayed.
According to a report in The Local, the CDU announced Friday that 45 percent of its members voted against gay marriage while 35 percent voted in support in a survey.
The survey was conducted over the past three weeks, asking members whether they would support gay marriage in Germany. About 40 percent of the CDU’s roughly 12,500 members sent in their votes.
While same-sex couples in Germany may enter into legal unions, they do not have the same rights as heterosexual married couples, such as the ability to adopt children together.
Germany continues to lag behind most of Europe in recognizing marriage equality.
