German Lawmaker Heiner Garg Describes Homophobic Harassment in Kiel

Heiner Garg, a Free Democratic Party (FDP) member of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament in Germany, described homophobic harassment while out walking with his husband in Kiel, the state capital. On November 2, 2026, queer.de covered his interview with the newspaper Flensburger Tageblatt, citing the dpa news agency.

Garg, who is openly gay and previously served as the state’s social affairs minister, said he and his husband have positive interactions with people almost all the time in their daily lives. One jogger, he said, regularly makes a point of spitting on the ground in front of them when he passes them walking their dogs.

Garg said that in nearly every instance when he and his husband encountered mockery or similar behavior, it came from young men with an immigrant background. He said he might have held back from saying so publicly a year or two ago. He now thinks such incidents should be discussed openly and should not be kept quiet out of political correctness.

Urania previously covered Berlin district councillor Elizaveta Kapinos’s account of threats against patrons of LGBT bars in Schöneberg.