AfD party leader defends same-sex relationships despite party stance
The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, who lives in a same-sex civil partnership, distanced herself on Sunday from part of a regional party manifesto backing the traditional family model, saying she lives “something different.”
“They can write whatever they like. I live something different,” Weidel said in response to a question from RTL/ntv about the election manifesto of the AfD in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The manifesto states: “An intact family consisting of a mother, father and children has been proven to be the best foundation for a child’s healthy development.”
Weidel lives in a registered civil partnership with a woman, with whom she is raising two children.
“If you ask me personally: my children have the best upbringing and the best opportunities,” Weidel said on the sidelines of the AfD party conference in the eastern city of Erfurt.
“We are now living in a completely different reality. So same-sex relationships must be treated equally,” she added.
Weidel nonetheless defended her party’s fundamental stance towards the traditional family model. “When, as a politician, I speak of a societal ideal - and that is currently the traditional family - I can advocate it and there is no contradiction,” she said.
Source: DPA International via Microsoft’s MSN
IMO: Purely optics / strategic. She knows that Germany is not homophobic enough for the party to keep getting more voters with their current stance. They used extreme views to get their first, extreme voters, now they are trying to grab the big votes from the center.