Gay marksman, Catholics clash over his choice of queen
The problem, according to Religion News Service, is the gun club is not just a gun club. “The shooting clubs have a high profile in Catholic parts of Germany, where members are active in social causes. All clubs are very closely linked to the church, with church officials often sitting on their boards,” RNS reported. “There is, however, no requirement that members be Catholic, male or heterosexual.”
Every king needs his queen, and the King of the Shooters is no exception. Winter’s queen, according to RNS, would have the right to go to events with him, including parades. At first, Winters said he was going to choose a female friend to be his queen, but she and other friends dissuaded him. Instead, Deutsche Presse-Agentur said “he picked his longtime partner Oliver Hermsdorf.”
Winter’s choice brought up questions of the rights of private clubs — particularly religiously-affiliated clubs — to set religious standards that some might see as disciminatory. But Winter wasn’t planning on getting attention for a cause.
“People might think: This homosexual shooter just wanted to get into the spotlight. I didn’t want that at all,” Winter told NOS.nl, a Dutch news website. “I just wanted to walk next to my friend. We’ve been together 15 years.”