Society: Wowereit: Being gay is still taboo for many people

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Wowereit: Being gay is still taboo for many people

Berlin’s former governing mayor Klaus Wowereit turns 70 on Sunday. photo

© Soeren Stache/dpa

Klaus Wowereit’s sentence “I’m gay and that’s a good thing” is legendary. A lot has happened socially since then. Not enough, however, believes the former mayor of Berlin.

Berlin’s former governing mayor Klaus Wowereit still considers being gay to be a taboo “in large parts of society”. When asked about his legendary statement “I’m gay and that’s a good thing” on the radio station rbb 88.8, Wowereit said that a lot had changed in the last few years. He could list various names of politicians who were openly gay and whose careers this had not harmed. According to the 69-year-old, things look different in other areas, such as football.

“After Hitzlsperger, even after the end of his career, no one has really come out yet and that’s because the environment is not prepared for it.” Thomas Hitzlsperger came out in 2014 after the end of his career. If you hear swear words in the dressing room of youth teams, “how can a young person who is just experiencing their sexuality during puberty and realizes that they may be different from the others have the courage to come out? That won’t happen happen,” said Wowereit.

Wowereit turns 70 on Sunday and, in the rbb 88.8 broadcast, wished, among other things, that “humanity would finally become wiser.” He has the impression that society is declining again and that there is a lot of irrationality.

dpa

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