Josefine Paul and Katja Meier, Minister of Family Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia and Minister of Justice of Saxony, have been a couple for a good six years. Now the two green politicians announced that they want to get married in the magazine “Bunte”, which has proven itself as a specialist magazine for all kinds of relationship status changes.
After the state elections in Saxony on September 1, the couple will say yes, they said to the newspaper. “It's less about a political gesture. Love is the foundation.” Still, the couple wants to be a role model. “Homosexuality needs to be visible,” said Meier, 44. Even today, “young gays and lesbians still have family problems and bullying at school,” emphasized Paul, who is two years his junior.
“Nudossi” and “Knusperflacken” for a friend in North Rhine-Westphalia
While Paul discovered his homosexuality as a teenager, things were different for Meier. “I was 38 years old and had relationships with men before. But I don't love sex, I love people,” said Saxony's justice minister. “Most people are bisexual and don't find out until later in life.”
They made their relationship public when Meier became a minister in 2019. During the swearing-in, he introduced Paul, who was then still the leader of the Green Party in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, as his partner. On the other hand, Meier occasionally accompanies his partner to events in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 2021, Meier told the publication “Zeit” that he had to bring Eastern products “Nudossi” and “Knusperflacken” to Paul when he visited the West.
As Meier said, in their long-distance West-East relationship, it's become a ritual to drink digital coffee together at 6:30 a.m. via Facetime and have at least one call before bed. Paul added: “In the Federal Council we wink at each other.”
It is quite possible that the two of them will have more time together in the real world from autumn: whether the Greens will get back into the government of the state of Saxony remains clear based on the results of the survey.