S & M Festival

[Jason]

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 programme 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."