A German Minster has said that allowing equal marriage in Germany would have “far-reaching consequences”.

German Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said that she believes that allowing equal marriage in Germany would have “far-reaching consequences” such as brothers marrying.

Kramp-Karrenbauer, a member of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said that allowing gay people to marry would introduce incest and polygamous marriage to the country.

She told Saarbrücker Zeitung: “This is more than symbolism. This raises the question of whether we want to change our society, with possibly far-reaching consequences. We have in Germany a clear definition of marriage as a union of men and women.”

Angela Merkel has been pressured by other ministers in the German government to legislate for equal marriage following Ireland’s successful marriage referendum on May 22.

The minister of the right-leaning CDU, Kramp-Karrenbauer, believes that gay marriage would no longer allow the government to exclude other close relationships from such a legally binding commitment.

Kramp-Karrenbauer has said, “When we open this definition to a stable long-term relationship of two grown men, other people can not be excluded: such a marriage among close relatives or of more than two people. Do we want that really?”

She has also said that she believes that children are better developed with mixed-gender parents, saying, “We cannot link this question to whether someone feels discriminated against or not – we can only link it to child welfare.”

However, she also said: “We all agree that existing discrimination between marriage and life partnership must be eliminated.”

A spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel has admitted that equal marriage is not “a goal of this government.”