The mayor is gay (and that's a good thing): Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit has come from obscurity to prominence in just two years, and now he is one of the most famous openly gay politicians in the world.

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Germany - Interview

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The mayor is gay (and that's a good thing): Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit has come from obscurity to prominence in just two years, and now he is one of the most famous openly gay politicians in the world.

It took Klaus Wowereit 47 years to come out of the closet. But now he wants all the world--and especially gay and lesbian Americans--to know that he is gay and that his city, Berlin, is a premier gay capital of Europe.

For many Berliners, Governing Mayor Wowereit's campaign makes historical sense. Berlin was home to the first gay rights organization in the world, Magnus Hirschfeld's Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, which was founded in 1897. And up until January 1933, there were more than a hundred gay and lesbian bars throughout the city.

But for Wowereit, the campaign makes Euros and cents. Bankrupted by the price tag of reunification, Berlin desperately...

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