Klaus Wowereit, the openly gay Mayor of Germany’s capital city, easily won a third term in office this weekend. Country officials noted that the election turnout was at just over 60% of Berlin’s approximately 2.5 million eligible voters.
Wowereit was first elected mayor of Berlin in 2001. He came out gay during a convention of the Berlin SPD when he said: “I’m gay, and that is good the way it is.” The announcement was met with loud applause and cheering.
57-year-old Wowereit has said he came out because he’s heard that tabloid newspapers had already started hinting that they were going to do it for him.
Wowereit has been with his partner, neurosurgeon Jorn Kubicki, for 18 years.