The German daily Bild is feting the likely new foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle (right), and his partner Michael Mronz, as the nation's new "power couple" following Angela Merkel's election win.
The AP reports: "The ringing endorsement for the 47-year-old Westerwelle, who is
widely expected to be tapped for the high-profile post of foreign
minister in Chancellor Angela Merkel's new government, in the Bild
daily also highlighted his personal life in a way he rarely has. 'His
man makes him so strong,' Bild wrote about Westerwelle, declaring that
his 42-year-old partner Michael Mronz was not only his most important
adviser during the campaign, but also 'gives him security and …
supports him when he suffers a setback.' Despite eight years as
leader of the pro-business Free Democrats, Westerwelle's homosexuality
has generated relatively little discussion. But with his party set to
become kingmaker to Chancellor Merkel's conservatives and him foreign
minister, it has been thrust into the spotlight."
Said Westerwelle to German gay magazine Siegessaeule: "I can only tell all young gays and lesbians to not be disheartened, if
not everything goes their way. This society is changing for the
good in the direction of tolerance and respect … though slower than I
would wish."
