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The AGG provides a legal basis to combat discrimination on certain grounds. These grounds are exhaustively enumerated in § 1 AGG. The protection against discrimination should be enhanced through linguistic specification. Additionally, a non-exhaustive enumeration of grounds for discrimination – as it is usual in international conventions- should be considered.

§ 1 AGG should further clarify that discrimination is also constituted where the discriminating person only assumes that a ground for discrimination exists. If a person is denied a hotel room because its hotelier assumes the guest to be homosexual and the hotelier has resentments against this group, while the assumption is not correct, the respective person (the guest) should be able to make legal claims. This principle is already applicable in the field of labour law in accordance with § 7 (1) AGG. Since such a form of discrimination also routinely occurs in other areas of civil law, the principle should be introduced to the general provisions of the AGG.

Regarding the individual grounds for discrimination, it is necessary to specify, adjust or extend these. Here you may find further proposals:

It should be refrained from the biologically affiliated term of "race" which should be instead replaced by the clarifying terminology of “racist reasons”.

The understanding of the term "ethnic origin" should also be extended to specify that all discrimination, whether directly or indirectly connected to the origin or appearance, can be sanctioned by the AGG.

The German term "Weltanschauung" should be replaced by the German term “Glaube”, since the latter is the more accurate translation of the word “belief” which is used in the Council Directive 2000/78/EC.

In regards to the term "Gender", the law should clarify that Inter* as well as Trans* persons fall under the protective scope of the AGG. An inclusion of the specified terminology of “gender identity”, “gender expression” and “gender features” should be considered.

Since the term "age" (in German “Alter”) evokes the -often negatively connotated- association with a high age, it is advisable to change it to the German term of “Lebensalter” (state of life), which would unequivocally imply a discrimination grounded on all ages.

The ground for discrimination "disability" should be based on the definition set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Furthermore, it should be clarified that chronic diseases are not to necessarily be subsumed under the term of “disability” but should rather be listed as an autonomous ground for discrimination in § 1 AGG.

Moreover, the introduction of the discrimination grounds of "language" and "Social status" should be considered.

Additionally, § 1 AGG should include an explicit prohibition of multiple discrimination.