NEW BERLIN MAYOR COMES OUT
“Left-Wing Putsch” in
Berlin Makes Gay Man Mayor
Berlin got its first gay mayor Saturday, June 16, when the ruling coalition was booted out and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Greens took control. The new No. 1, Klaus Wowereit (SPD), who owes his good luck in toppling the scandal-ridden local government not only to clever risk-taking, but also to the cooperation of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), aka “the ex-communists,” has been accused by some of leading a left-wing putsch.
Indeed, this cooperation has so dominated the headlines that Wowereit’s sexual identity—which he only recently publicly acknowledged with the curious statement “I’m gay, and it’s really OK like that.”—was only good for a day or two of intensive reporting. In fact, some members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Wowereit’s opponents, have muttered that the outing is only part of Wowereit’s election strategy. One might think the “issue” has disappeared all together if it weren’t for all the “It’s really OK like that.” T-shirts that were sold at the LGBT street fair this weekend.
Wowereit will still have to put his case before the voters in special elections set for the end of September. Members of Lesbians and Gays in the SPD (SCHWUSOS) claim that Wowereit’s sexual identity won’t be a campaign issue. This confidence certainly manages to ignore social reality.
One young woman strolling through the street festival with her hetero Mom and gay Dad told of her neighbor Hans’ reaction. “He said politics is no place for gays. Gays aren’t human.”
But the SCHWUSOS maneuver in a political world—and in that world of the closeted, a bit of tolerance can be the best privacy insurance. Stephen Grunberg, one of the SCHWUSOS’s co-chairs, gives this to chew on: “Of course there are gays among the leading members of the CDU. We’re not going to out anybody. But it’s easy to imagine that others will want to.”
U.N. REACHES
OUT TO GAYS
by Rex Wockner
The United Nations’ human-rights mechanisms are increasing their work on sexual-orientation and gender-identity issues.
In a letter from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, six Independent Experts—high-level individuals appointed by the U.N. to investigate patterns of human-rights abuse—urged GLBT activists and groups worldwide to contact them about human-rights violations.
The experts have wide power to address governments about suspected abuses. They report their findings to the U.N. annually.
For more details, visit the Web site of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission at www.iglhrc.org.
U.S. FUNDS PROJECT ON NAZIS’ GAY VICTIMS
The U.S. government has given $504,210 to the Pink Triangle Coalition “to promote public education and remembrance of the gay men and lesbians who were murdered by the Nazis or otherwise persecuted during the Nazi period.”
The money is part of the U.S. contributions to the International Nazi Persecutee Relief Fund. The award letter to the group—a coalition of European, Israeli and U.S. gay organizations—came from the U.S. Department of State.
“Our coalition is heartened by this opportunity to finally honor the memories of these gay men and lesbians who were killed by the Nazis and we are appreciative to the U.S. government for acknowledging these non-Jewish victims,” said Julie Dorf, a founder of the Pink Triangle Coalition and former head of the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
The money will be distributed to three German groups and one international agency. Planned projects include films, books, CD-ROMS and Internet sites. Further information is available at www.iglhrc.org.
GAYS MARCH
IN TIJUANA
About 275 people marched in Tijuana, Mexico’s seventh gay-pride parade June 9—150 in the streets and another 125 on the sidewalk, out of view of media photographers. The parade traveled downtown’s two busiest streets at 4 on a Saturday afternoon, when the streets are packed with shoppers and partier