Bodo Mende, 60, and partner Karl Kreile, 59 tied the knot in south Berlin on the first day where gay marriages were allowed. The law was changed just three months before the first weddings took place.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Germany after Chancellor Angela Merkel changed her stance on the issue, before that, gay couple were only permitted to be civilly partnered.
In 2015 Angela Merkel revealed her thoughts on same-sex marriage in an interview posted on YouTube. While she said she supported LGBT equality, it stopped at civil partnerships.
By extending existing law to gay couples, they would automatically gain the same tax advantages and adoption rights as their straight counterparts.
A study of 2000 Brits has revealed that the UK has a bit of a love affair with some very conservative politicians, including Thatcher, Trump, Putin and Palin.
By work provided by Chris Collins of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation – Margaret Thatcher Foundation, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5185418
The research conducted by CamRate, found that Brits found Margaret Thatcher to be the most popular female politician followed by Theresa May. The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon was voted in third place, while Germany’s Angela Merkel came fourth. Angela Merkel is against same-sex marriage equality, having already outlined that she regards marriage as “marriage is the coexistence between a man and a woman”.
Margaret Thatcher, who died in 2013, led the Conservatives from 1979 to 1990 and was instrumental in enforcing Section 28 in schools.
Worryingly Brits seemed to love Republican Sarah Palin (9), whose stance on LGBT rights is horrifying. Former PM hopeful Andrea Leadsom, Priti Patel, and Nicky Morgan also appear in the top 20 all of whom have a less than perfect score when it comes to gay equality votes.
Brits also voted Vladamir Putin in 14th place ahead of Nick Clegg (15) and Tony Blair (16). Tony Blair’s government played a key part in the introduction of Civil Partnerships for gay people in 2004.
It wasn’t all bad news from an LGBT perspective when it came to nation’s favourite politicians, Barack Obama won the vote, with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn taking second and third place.
CREDIT: By Michael Vadon [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia CommonsUS President-Elect Donald Trump came fourth, ahead of ex-UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Here are the top 20 male politicians
1. Barack Obama
2. Boris Johnson
3. Jeremy Corbyn
4. Donald Trump
5. David Cameron
6. Sadiq Khan
7. Bernie Sanders
8. Bill Clinton
9. Gordon Brown
10. Alex Salmond
11. Andy Burnham
12. Ian Duncan Smith
13. Ed Miliband
14. Vladimir Putin
15. Nick Clegg
16. Tony Blair
17. Chuka Umunna
18. Mitt Romney
19. Paul Ryan
20. Zac Goldsmith And the top 20 female politicians.
1. Margaret Thatcher
2. Theresa May
3. Nicola Sturgeon
4. Angela Merkel
5. Caroline Lucas
6. Hilary Clinton
7. Ruth Davidson
8. Harriet Harman
9. Sarah Palin
10. Mhairi Black
11. Angela Eagle
12. Priti Patel
13. Andrea Leadsom
14. Diane Abbott
15. Justine Greening
16. Natalie Bennett
17. Theresa Villers
18. Nicky Morgan
19. Amber Rudd
20. Elizabeth Truss
Interestingly, those who were polled preferred their male candidates to be of a Liberal persuasion, with 12 politicians affiliated with liberal or left-wing parties, to eight who are either Republican or Conservative. Voters showed that they preferred the exact opposite with female politicians, with 12 being of a right-wing or Conservative ideology, with eight being part of liberal or left-wing parties.
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel does not believe that gay couples should have the right to marry.
◉ Said that marriage is between a man and woman living together
◉ Chancellor is out of touch with the German people on the issue of same-sex marriage
Angela Merkel revealed her thoughts on same-sex marriage yesterday in an interview posted on YouTubeand while she supports LGBT equality, it stops at civil partnerships.
“We have come a long way; when I remember, 25 years ago, many people didn’t dare to say that they are gay or lesbian.
“Luckily we overcame this; you can enter a partnership, a civil partnership.
The Chancellor reiterated that she wanted to end discrimination and she wanted equality and was questioned about how she could end discrimination whilst differentiated between straight and gay couple’s rights to marriage.
Merkel replied, “No discrimination,”
“Marriage as a man and a woman living together.”
“For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. That is my concept, but I support civil partnerships.”
Following hot on the heels of Ireland’s historic Referendum, Greenland yesterday became the latest country to legalise same-sex marriage.
In a unanimous vote in its Parliament Greenland, which is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, extended marriage and adoption rights to LGBT couples. This arctic wonderland with a population of only 57,000 became the 20th country in the world where same-sex marriage is now legal.
However despite the fact that recent polls have shown that 75% of the German population is in favour of same sex marriage, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday quashed all rumours that they may be next saying that they were not a goal of her government. Her spokesman Steffen Seiber added somewhat tersely “In Germany we’ll take a path that suits Germany.”
