Klaus Wowereit

Klaus Wowereit (born October 1, 1953 in Berlin) is a German politician, member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), and currently mayor of Berlin (since 2001).

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). At the age of 31, he was the youngest city councilor of Berlin. From 1984-95 he was municipal councillor in the Tempelhof borough of Berlin, and, since December 1999, chairman of the SPD party in Berlin. Since June 2001 he has served as mayor ("governing burgomaster") of Berlin.

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." (literally: "I am gay, and that's a good thing"; a more correct translation would be: "I am gay, and that's ok"). 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.

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1953 births | Living people | German politicians | Gay politicians | Mayors of Berlin

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