THE STRAIGHTS TIMES*: BERLIN - HE HAD his public coming-out five years ago at Angela Merkel's 50th birthday party and now Guido Westerwelle is in the frame to become Europe's first openly gay foreign minister.
While gay politicians have become commonplace in the much of the West, commentators said Mr Westerwelle's sexual orientation could be an issue in regions such as the Middle East and Asia where homosexuality is widely viewed as an abomination.
The leader of the business-friendly Free Democrats dismissed concerns about a clash between diplomacy and his sexuality in an interview earlier this year.
'I am convinced that today one's private life is no longer an obstacle.
Some other countries may have had a problem with the fact that Angela Merkel became the first female chancellor of Germany. Of course she does not wear a veil on the red carpet when she visits certain Arab states,' he told AFP.
'The American secretary of state (Hillary Clinton) must also hold talks in countries in which women are systematically oppressed. The decision as to who we send as a government representative rests solely with us Germans based on our political and moral standards.'
Under a front-page headline 'His Man Makes Him Strong', the mass-market Bild newspaper on Tuesday called Mr Westerwelle, 47, and his 42-year-old partner, businessman Michael Mronz, 'Germany's top political couple' and splashed photos of the two hugging on election night.
The left-leaning daily Tageszeitung, mourning the election victory of the centre-right, tried to cheer up its readers with an ironic list of its upsides including - at number two - a gay foreign minister.
'It opens up the wonderful speculation whether and how he will be welcomed at state receptions in Saudi Arabia or Syria with his life partner. And whether Michael Mronz, together with (Merkel's husband) Joachim Sauer, will try to get out of the 'ladies' programme' at summits and state visits.'
Gay rights groups hope Mr Westerwelle will keep a pledge to punish countries with records of persecuting homosexuals. He threatened in a 2008 interview with Stern magazine to cut such states' development aid. [Source: The Straights Times] AFP | Wednesday, September 30, 2009
*No pun intended!
