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Justice Minister Katja Meier (l) and Equal Opportunities Minister Josefine Paul: “Love is the foundation”
Photo: Bühler / ullstein image
The two Green politicians Katja Meier and Josefine Paul have been a couple for several years. Now they want to get married - and would thus be Germany's first ministerial couple. Meier is Justice Minister in Saxony, Paul is Equal Opportunities Minister in North Rhine-Westphalia. They spoke to “Bunte” about their engagement.
“It’s less about the political gesture – love is the foundation,” explained the two Green politicians. “We wink at each other in the Federal Council,” revealed the two ministers. »Of course we also accompany each other at official events. Homosexuality must be visible, even on the streets, we go hand in hand.«
"I don't love a gender, but people"
Meier and Paul had fought for “marriage for all” for years. According to the report, NRW Minister Paul has always loved women, but things were different for Justice Minister Katja Meier when she fell in love with her party friend. "I was 38 and had had relationships with men before," she told the magazine. »But I don't love a gender, but rather people.«
They first spoke about their relationship in a “Zeit” interview in 2021. "I don't think you should hide anything," Paul said at the time. Every person decides for themselves how much they reveal about their private life: “But it shouldn’t depend on whether you live in a heterosexual or homosexual relationship. We decided to be open about it. That can also be a door opener.” It’s about making identities visible. “You always need role models who talk about themselves,” said Meier at the time.
Marriage for all was introduced in the summer of 2017 after then-Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) spoke out in favor of a vote without party group pressure in the Bundestag. In the first five years since then, according to the Federal Statistical Office, 65,600 marriages were concluded between people of the same sex.
mrc/dpa