German Chancellor Angela Merkel says
she remains opposed to allowing gay couples to marry.
Merkel made her remarks during an
interview with YouTube
star Florian Mundt, aka Lefloid.
“For me, personally, marriage is the
coexistence between a man and a woman,” Merkel said.
“I am for registered civil
partnerships. I am for our not having any discrimination in tax
legislation. And wherever we still find discrimination, we will
continue to dismantle it,” she pledged.
According to Deutsche Welle, Germany's
international broadcaster, this was Merkel's first YouTube interview.
Nearly 3 million people had viewed the 30-minute interview as of
Friday.
“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,” she
added.
Britain's LGBT advocate Stonewall
responded: “Can someone really support 'eliminating all
discrimination' if they believe that same-sex unions shouldn't be
labeled as 'marriages'? It must be a quiet week for Angela if her
current concern is synonyms.”
A majority of Germans – as many as
three quarters, according to one poll – support marriage equality.