My home town Maastricht welcomed its new mayor last week. He is a well known right wing politician. He is also married to a well known TV-celeb.
It is a bit odd to read about “the mayor and his husband” but I think we will all get used to it soon. 
Well, how about that. I thought we were getting all progressive with our first Muslim mayor. 
Of course, our mayor isn’t married, and there’s some speculation as to which team he bats for (well, the speculation is in our house, where my husband knows Mr. Nenshi from university).
Well, he had better be gay, too, otherwise we’ve got you beat there, too. 
Well, we’re only going for the Canadian record. 
I’m still waiting for the government elected-office holder who is black, female, gay, and an atheist. Anyone got one of those?
Nope. Three out of four, yes. Not four out of four.
Hard to find an atheist in public office, eh?
Reminds me of a political cartoon about the former Interior Secretary, James Watt. His assistant comes into his office and says, “There’s a black, Jewish, crippled woman to see you.”
Chile had a woman atheist president. Amazing for a country who was probably the last Latin American country to allow people to divorce.
What’s the punchline?
You obviously don’t know how a lovely person James Watt is. The line comes almost directly from something he said while secretary of the interior.
I was pretty amazed when I moved to Providence a few years ago and discovered that the mayor was gay. Now I live in Toronto which came sort-of close to electing a gay man last month… but didn’t.
There’s a gay mayor in Texas. Elected almost a year ago.
I didn’t think it was such big news anymore. I mean, once Texas does something progressive, it’s already been accepted elsewhere in the country for years by then.
Indeed! No offence to Texans, but I’d say the state is still so conservative that a gay mayor is indeed a big deal. Now, is she married?
The funny thing is that in the Netherlands, most politicians are atheists by default, except for those from the Christian parties. There was a small uproar two years ago when the leader of the Animal Rights Party turned out to be a Seventh-day Adventist.
I realise that was actually my point. A gay politician is no longer that much of a big deal. The US has had Harvey Milk, the Dutch have had Pim Fortuijn. What is new, is a gay ***married ***politician. That is still new in showbizz, but it is even newer in politics. Last week, the new mayor held a reception and his husband was part of the receiving line, als would a wife have been. It somehow seems like the next step in equal rights for gays.
It still constantly surprises me that being an atheist is such a political bomb in the US. It’s such an alien concept to this heathen Brit – we don’t give a stuff.
Is Nenshi really Muslim? That article says he was in a bar:
Yup. My husband and I went to a volunteer meeting while he was campaigning, and one of the questions asked was if he was a Muslim (this was an extraordinary question, as we allow our public figures much more religious privacy here, but it was felt that it could become an issue, so volunteers should know the answer to the question), and the answer was yes.
Funnily enough, Calgary elected a visible minority Muslim mayor, and Toronto elected a redneck. How the times are changing. 
The Prime Minister of Australia has said that she is “not religious”, which does seem to me to be close to saying that she’s an atheist.