An advertisement for a new German lesbian magazine has caused a stir for appearing to mock Angela Merkel. In the same week that Merkel re-affirmed her opposition to same-sex marriage, the ad shows a lookalike of the chancellor kissing another women.
The ad shows ‘Merkel’ gazing out of a window and shaking her head as it is announced over the radio that 62 per cent of Germans are in favour of gay marriage, before receiving a kiss from a woman who approaches her from behind.
The caption accompanying the video, which was released via Twitter, states; “Everybody in Europe hates Merkel? Except this woman.”
In May, the German leader ruled out introducing same-sex marriage in Germany following a referendum in Ireland. On the 14th of this month she defended her position in an interview on a popular Youtube channel:
“I’m someone who is very supportive of us eliminating all discrimination… 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.
“For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. That is my concept, but I support civil partnerships… I support us not discriminating against them when it comes to taxes, and to remove any other discrimination wherever we may find it.”
Also last week, Merkel made a 14-year-old refugee cry after telling her she may not be allowed to stay in Germany, before facing questions from a gay teen. He wanted to know why the German government has not, in his view, campaigned more strongly for gay rights. Once again, she confirmed that she believes same-sex marriage is a matter of personal conviction.