<3, Reprise
Finland has presidential elections coming up in March. One of the candidates, Pekka Haavisto of the Green League, is gay.
Want to know how I found out?
Not through a political smear campaign by another candidate. Not through a nationwide outcry in the media. Not through a public condemnation by the church.
No, I found out by reading his bio page on the Helsingin Sanomat website, which mentions Haavisto living in a registered partnership. And that is the only mention I have seen since, apart from the news that his partner had been cited for driving under the influence in his native Equador a few months ago.
God, sometimes I really love my country.
It's not perfect, not by any means, but when a publicly gay man can run for office and have his sexuality be an absolute non-issue in the media, I can't help but be a little proud. He won't win, not by a long shot, because he represents the Green League, which has about 8 % of the seats of the parliament, but 6 % in the polls is still a huge victory (for comparison, the candidate currently second in the polls, Timo Soini, has 6 - 11 %, depending on the source).
I'm
ambersnake, and I approve this message.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. You can also comment there using OpenID.
Want to know how I found out?
Not through a political smear campaign by another candidate. Not through a nationwide outcry in the media. Not through a public condemnation by the church.
No, I found out by reading his bio page on the Helsingin Sanomat website, which mentions Haavisto living in a registered partnership. And that is the only mention I have seen since, apart from the news that his partner had been cited for driving under the influence in his native Equador a few months ago.
God, sometimes I really love my country.
It's not perfect, not by any means, but when a publicly gay man can run for office and have his sexuality be an absolute non-issue in the media, I can't help but be a little proud. He won't win, not by a long shot, because he represents the Green League, which has about 8 % of the seats of the parliament, but 6 % in the polls is still a huge victory (for comparison, the candidate currently second in the polls, Timo Soini, has 6 - 11 %, depending on the source).
I'm
ambersnake, and I approve this message.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth. You can also comment there using OpenID.