Germany May Get Openly Gay Vice Chancellor

Guido Westerwelle, 47, openly gay
head of Germany's Free Democratic Party

Germany is about to make history by having an openly gay man as the second-highest ranking politician of a G-8 country. Guido Westerwelle, head of the Free Democratic Party, is likely to become Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Foreign Minister (equivalent to the United States Secretary of State, which is the third highest member of the Executive Branch). The Free Democratic Party placed well enough in this weekend's elections that returned Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party to power that the FDP and CDU will together form a conservative coalition to form a majority in the Bundestag, the German Parliament.

And Herr Westerwelle is not the only openly gay politician making history in Germany. Klaus Wowerweit, 52, has repeatedly won re-election as Mayor of Berlin and has made no secret of his desire to become Chancellor of Germany one day.