This is Pekka Haavisto. He is a Finnish politician representing the Green League. He is running for president at the moment and he got the second most votes (18,8%) during the first round so he will continue to the second round with Sauli Niinistö (37,0%).
Pekka is gay and he is in a registered relationship with Nexar Antonio Flores, who is an immigrant from Ecuador.
As a Finn, I’m really proud of my country at the moment. How many countries have had a gay green politician, who is taken seriously enough to get to the second round of presidential elections? None. Well, Finland.
Sometimes the future seems dark and hopeless but things like this make me really happy. Maybe people aren’t as ignorant as I thought. Maybe people will start to make better choices for the future. Maybe someday I will be able to tell my children that there is nothing wrong with being gay and the society of Finland will agree with me. Maybe later the whole world will too.
Even if Pekka won’t become the president of Finland, this is a huge step for the world. To quote Neil Armstrong: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”.
I’m sorry, this post probably has thousands of typos but I’m so excited and happy at the moment that I don’t really care.
