German Vice Chancellor Gay: Nobody Cares

When I asked my husband who he was voting for last Sunday, he automatically said FDP, the yellow party. I guess with the baby coming, he has taken a huge interest in the direction Germany will take regarding family politics. People can say all they want about Thüringen, but I'll doubt you'll find a state that is as family oriented. The state provides excellent and cheap whole day child-care for working parents. The schools are good (if a bit lefty-oriented), Kindergeld, Erziehungsgeld, the works. And companies don't discriminate against working mothers, because they were used to that in the former Eastern Germany. I was supposed to go on maternity leave in the middle of September, but because I am a freelancer, I could extend it until the end of September. It wasn't a big deal.

I have seen the party head, new Vice Chancellor and Foreign Affairs chair Guido Westerwelle on TV. He seems like an ok chap, a bit arrogant, but one needs that in politics.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that he was gay. Not only that, he's been out since 2004. Yet nobody cares, and his party still won and is now out of the opposition and leading with the incumbent party CDU.

I don't care if he's gay, and I am actually happy that his sexuality is not deemed a liability or a hindrance in his ability to lead. I am actually amazed at how Germans and Europeans are so open-minded about these kinds of things, in contrast to Filipinos and in some cases, Americans. In some countries, admitting to homosexuality is political suicide.

I don't want to become a German citizen. I've made that clear. I don't feel German, I don't feel that I "belong" to this country. However, accompanying my husband to the elections, I could not help but feel a pang of envy at seeing how peaceful, fast, and orderly their elections are, in comparison to the circus in the Philippines. I have volunteered in the Philippine elections in the past, and seeing how politics works over here made me almost want to renounce my Filipino citizenship, just so I could participate in the direction my adoptive country is taking. Good job Gérmany!