Mayor criticized for welcoming S&M festival
 

(gg)
BERLIN (Reuters) - Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit on
Tuesday fended off criticism for giving an official
welcome to a sado-masochism festival expected to draw
thousands of leather-clad visitors to the German
capital this weekend.

"The first weekend in September stands for the pure
zest for life," Wowereit wrote in a message of
greeting in the official program of the Folsom-Europe
Street Festival. "A warm welcome to Berlin!"

Members of the conservative opposition Christian
Democrats (CDU), and even political leaders from
within Wowereit's own Social Democrat party (SPD),
said Wowereit's public endorsement of the leather and
fetish festival showed poor taste.

They also questioned whether it was appropriate for
the mayor of Germany's largest city, who became a
nationally known figure when he outed himself in 2001,
to support the festival.

But Wowereit dismissed his critics as "narrow-minded."
He said Berlin was a tolerant city and open to the
world.

"No question about it, it is a glitzy scene but that
is also part of Berlin," Wowereit told Bild newspaper.
"And as long as they do not do anything illegal, I
expect people to be tolerant.

"A greeting message is good advertising for Berlin,
especially for international visitors," added
Wowereit, who is a regular visitor to Berlin's gay and
lesbian Christopher Street Day parade. "We want them
to come to Berlin. But anyone who has a problem with
it doesn't have to go to the (S&M) event."