Klaus Wowereit
Klaus Wowereit (born October 1, 1953 in Berlin) is a German politician, member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), and has been the mayor of Berlin since the 2001 state elections, winning 31.4% of the votes. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections. He is also sometimes mentioned as a possible SPD candidate for the Chancellorship of Germany (Kanzlerkandidat), though his chances have diminished after his decision to enter into a coalition with the socialist Left Party for a second term. Wowereit has publicly ruled out such a move, supporting Kurt Beck for the role of "Kanzlerkandidat".
Background
Until 1973, Klaus Wowereit attended the Ulrich-von-Hutten-Oberschule in Berlin. Afterwards, he studied law at the Free University Berlin (State Exams, 1981 and 1984).
Political career
After 3 years as a civil servant in the Senate office of the Interior Wowereit stood for election as municipal councillor in Tempelhof borough. At the age of 30, he was therefore the youngest councilor in the city of Berlin. After eleven years as a Borough Councillor he stood for the Berlin House of Deputies Abgeordnetenhaus which serves as the City's Landtag or state legislature in 1995. In December 1999, he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus. Since June 2001 he has served as Governing Mayor, Regierender Bürgermeister, of Berlin. Previously, the SPD had left the Grand coalition with the CDU and initiated new elections. After this election and following long-time negotiations, Wowereit finally started a coalition with the PDS.
In the elections held on 17 September 2006, Wowereit's (SPD) finished as the strongest party. The 16th Abgeordnetenhaus re-elected Wowereit as Governing Mayor on 23 November 2006, in the second ballot with only a 75-74 majority. CDU, Free Democrats and the Green Party voted against him.
Sexual orientation
Wowereit is one of the most famous German politicians who has openly declared himself to be homosexual. In coming out, prior to the 2001 mayoral elections, he coined the now famous German phrase "Ich bin schwul, und das ist auch gut so." ("I am gay, and [being] that is a good thing" or "I am gay, and it's ok that way"). It is widely believed that his decision to come out in public was made because after his nomination as candidate to become the mayor of Berlin, Wowereit felt that the German tabloids were already "on the track". With his coming out, Wowereit wanted to beat the tabloids to it and prevent them from writing wild, sensational and made-up stories about his gay life. Wowereit said those now famous words during a convention of the Berlin SPD. After he had ended, there was half a second of surprised silence, then spontaneous cheering and loud applause to support him.
Wowereit is not the only gay mayor of a large European city. Bertrand Delanoë, the mayor of Paris, is openly gay, and Ole von Beust, the mayor of Hamburg, is also gay.[1]
In September 2007, Wowereit published an autobiographical book titled "...und das ist auch gut so.", after his famous coming out phrase (ISBN 3896673343).
Notes and references
- ^ While Beust's father has confirmed his son's homosexuality in an interview, Beust himself considers his sexual orientation a private matter and when asked directly usually ironically refers the questioner to his father.
External links
| Preceded by Eberhard Diepgen |
Mayor of
Berlin 2001- |
Succeeded by incumbent |
| Governing Mayors of Berlin since 1948 | ||
|---|---|---|
| West Berlin | Ernst Reuter · Walther Schreiber · Otto Suhr · Willy Brandt · Heinrich Albertz · Klaus Schütz · Dietrich Stobbe · Hans-Jochen Vogel · Richard von Weizsäcker · Eberhard Diepgen · Walter Momper |  |
| Berlin (since 1990) | Walter Momper · Eberhard Diepgen · Klaus Wowereit | |
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