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Home » Blogs » the linster's blog » German news anchor Dunja Hayali comes out

German news anchor Dunja Hayali comes out

by
the linster

AfterEllen.com reader Nicole went above and beyond the call of tipster duty by not only giving us the news that German news anchor Dunja Hayali has come out, but also translating the interview for us. Danke shön, Nicole!

Even in German, though, you get the idea: "Moderatorin Dunja Hayali outet sich als lesbisch."

On Sunday, Hayali, who anchors “heute,” the news broadcast; “heute-journal,” an evening news magazine; and ZDF-Morgenmagazin, a morning show, spoke openly about her sexual orientation for the first time with German newspaper Express.

Hayali and her girlfriend, Mareike Arning, have been together for about a year, she told the Express. They met five years ago in Cologne, where Arning works for a sporting goods company and sings in Uschis Orchestra. Arning plans to move to Berlin shortly so the couple can spend more time together

Hayali, whose parents are from Iraq, became the first minority news broadcaster for a major German network in April 2007.

Hayali is the second high-profile German TV journalist to come out in less than a year. Anne Will, the popular anchor of evening news show Tagesthemen, came out last November, when she acknowledged her relationship with university professor Miriam Meckel.

If you happen to read German, you can catch up on Hayali’s career at Monsters & Critics. Otherwise, you can join me in hoping we see a lot more of this woman — preferably in a tank top.

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    • Submitted by
    the linster
    on October 21, 2008 - 3:19pm.
    TAGS :: 
    IfOnly's picture

    Weee!! (But no!)...

    Submitted by
    IfOnly (294 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:10pm.

    ...I'm sorry, I AM totally happy. I'm just waiting and waiting and waiting for another smoking hot, amazingly sexy and yummy news anchor to take the step. Come on honey, you can do it! =D

    Everytime any woman of some media interest comes out, I can't help but hope that they will start a wave of pride and outspokenness. =) That would be AWESOME!

    the linster's picture

    Hmm.

    Submitted by
    the linster (1026 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:59pm.
    I suppose you're not going to give us clueless Americans a hint?
    IfOnly's picture

    Hmmm...

    Submitted by
    IfOnly (294 posts)
    on October 27, 2008 - 2:52pm.
    Weell... That would be bad of me since it's just a bit of speculation and gossip. Mmm.. If only.
    Blauermontag's picture

    What a pleasant surprise

    Submitted by
    Blauermontag (60 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 6:17pm.

    I've never heard any rumours about her.

    But so great, I like her very much, and the rest of the Heute Journal news team, too.

    Oh, and she is part of the "Top 11", a kind of supporting team for the FIFA women's world cup in 2011. http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=507795 That's neat :)

    But now I'm wondering about the other news anchor who should take a step? I'm a very clueless German :)

    Nero18's picture

    Monika Lierhaus??? No way.

    Submitted by
    Nero18 (67 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:01am.
    Monika Lierhaus??? No way. Isn't she married to a man??
    Blauermontag's picture

    Nah,

    Submitted by
    Blauermontag (60 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:24am.
    how does this name come up? Don't believe it either.
    Nero18's picture

    she was on the list... So, I

    Submitted by
    Nero18 (67 posts)
    on October 23, 2008 - 12:43pm.
    she was on the list... So, I thought you meant her...
    raspberryfluff's picture

    Anne Will

    Submitted by
    raspberryfluff (32 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:15pm.
    Anne Will has her own Sendung and now we get to see her for an hour every Sunday night............her and her ironic eyebrow and powerfemmeness...*shivers* Id love to see her and Rachel Maddow have an indepth political discussion. 1 Butch political commentator and 1 femme political commentator having a intellectual discussion. Hot.
    Sarah C.'s picture

    Oh ja!

    Submitted by
    Sarah C. (115 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:16pm.
    Ich liebe die Deutsche! Plus, reading all these articles is good practice for my German class :)
    Pri_Rage's picture

    I wish I hadn't slept

    Submitted by
    Pri_Rage (33 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 4:23pm.

    during the last two years in the german class. I thought it would be useless.. lol. I was very wrong.

    It's amazing. I love when someone from the news come out. Because kinda have power and all. And it's no bad that they are mostly good looking =).

     

    Julia's picture

    well done dunja

    Submitted by
    Julia (275 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 5:15pm.
    It's good to see that she is so open about it and doesn't hide her relationship for years like Anne Will did.
    Linda77's picture

    Good news

    Submitted by
    Linda77 (53 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 5:51pm.

    Oh this is really good news!! I always knew.. or was hoping she was gay. Some months ago I read an interview with her where they asked more personal questions. The interview was about people with an immigration background as we say here. In one answer she was referring to her "partner" who she likes to spend time with. I though, and I guess I am not alone here, that this was a dead give away already.

    Especially with her being of Iraqi descent this should be very empowering for young immigrants from Arabic countries and for their kids who were born here.  

    raspberryfluff's picture

    I don't think Anne hid it,

    Submitted by
    raspberryfluff (32 posts)
    on October 21, 2008 - 5:59pm.

    I don't think Anne hid it, she just decided not to bring it into the public sphere. Her private life is private, her public life is public and thats the way it still is. She doesnt mix the two. Even now all she's done is say "Ja wir sind ein Paar." Nothing more. She hasnt done a big expose along the lines of "Anne und Miriam: bei uns zu Hause." I think she thinks her sexuality doesn't concern us!  When I go to live in Germany in March I going to get Eintrittskarten to be in the audience for her show, then go tell her that she's my idol! Love the woman. 

    irgendeine Userin's picture

    Boah, you're fast!!!

    Submitted by
    irgendeine Userin (2 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 1:29am.

    I just got the message yesterday in a German lesbian board.

    And now it is written here.

    Fine, fine. I know, why I like this blog. :)

    JeanDoe's picture

    Nice! I never took much

    Submitted by
    JeanDoe (16 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:29am.

    Nice! I never took much notice of her, but.. yes, very nice!

    Anne Will's outing was my number one most influential lesbian news ever...  I still feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about it. My rolemodels :D

    http://www.gala.de/stars/party/37080/Preisverleihung-Deutscher-Fernsehpr...

    btw her job as host of a political talk show kind of forbids her to comment on politics. Although I'm fairly certain she's an SPD-girl, she doesn't comment on stuff to keep her neutrality. so.. no rachel ;) 

    Smagninborg's picture

    Getting news around some corners

    Submitted by
    Smagninborg (94 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:32am.

    Great, I'm happy. And maybe there will soon be such a wave...who knows!?

    But: Guess what's so funny about this article: I didn't know!

    This is so strange! If you are german and you read the coming out story about a national news anchor on an american website. That is weird. I mean, of course I am fluently in german (talking 'bout the motherland *g*) and I could read anything so simple (not like you guys)...but I have never heard or read about her!

    Well, at least, now I know. Even if it is around some big corners :o)

    rainbowcoloredbutterfly's picture

    Yay someone of Iraqi descent

    Submitted by
    rainbowcoloredb... (460 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 5:28am.
    Yay someone of Iraqi descent come out. :) Thanks for the article the Linster.
    raspberryfluff's picture

    Wars immer unter deutschen

    Submitted by
    raspberryfluff (32 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 6:09am.
    Wars immer unter deutschen Lesben bekannt, dass Anne Will lesbisch/bi war, oder wars auch fuer euch eine grosse Ueberraschung? fuer mich als neu entpuppte feminin aussehende Lesbe und Deutschstreberin ist Anne Will klar ein grosses Vorbild von mir. Wegen Anne und ihrer Sendung hab ich gute Noten bekommen!
    Blauermontag's picture

    Ich hatte immer den

    Submitted by
    Blauermontag (60 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 6:41am.

    Ich hatte immer den Eindruck, dass es ein offenes Geheimnis ist, auch unter manchen Nicht-Lesben - und ich bin nicht sonderlich viel in der Szene unterwegs ... aber es gab immer mal wieder Mutmaßungen bzw. wenig versteckte Andeutungen über Anne Wills Privatleben in Zeitungsartikeln, bspw. in der "taz" (einer deutschen Tageszeitung). Vielleicht ähnlich wie bei Jodie Foster?

    Lieben Gruß!

    JeanDoe's picture

    Also ich wusste das auch

    Submitted by
    JeanDoe (16 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 7:37am.

    Also ich wusste das auch lange vorher schon, die Gerüchte waren relativ eindeutig soweit ich mich erinnere. Naja aber dass dann die BILD (auf deren Titelseite ich unrühmlicherweise auch vorgestern die Sache mit der heute-Frau gelesen habe ;)) da so eine riesige positive Geschichte draus macht, das war schon ne Überraschung..

    If Anne Will had been out when I was 16, it would have made coming to terms with my sexuality so much easier.. it's always good to have powerful rolemodels. Back then there was nobody even remotely comparable to her or her girlfriend (who's also pretty amazing O_o check out her blog). Smart, successful, sexy, lesbian. Perfect. They're totally inspiring me to grow beyond myself.

    @raspberryfluff: Du bist Engländerin? Krass, soweit ich das beurteilen kann aus zwei Posts ist dein deutsch der hammer :D Glückwunsch, woher kommt denn die Faszination zu meiner schönen Muttersprache? Wenn du ihre Sendung guckst musst du dich ja auch einigermaßen mit deutscher politischer TAgesdiskussion auskennen.. Respekt.

     

    the linster's picture

    Um...

    Submitted by
    the linster (1026 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:34pm.
    I'm trusting that you ladies are behaving yourselves, since I can only read about every fourth word.
    piper's picture

    wow, you guys are fast...

    Submitted by
    piper (1 post)
    on October 22, 2008 - 12:44pm.

    wow, you guys are fast...

    i was kinda surprised to hear that...not that Dunya is gay but I do know her girlfriend even thuough I haven´t spoken to her in a long time...

     

    all the best for those two

     

    raspberryfluff's picture

    @ JeanDoe. Vielen Dank fuer

    Submitted by
    raspberryfluff (32 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 2:22pm.

    @ JeanDoe. Vielen Dank fuer das Kompliment! Also ich komme eigentlch aus Nordirland, und studiere Germanistk und Romanistik (Franzoesisch) an der University of Manchester in England. Mein Deutsch ist besser als mein Franzoesisch,aber ich kann mich in den beiden ganz fliessend aeussern. Deutsch ist aber natuerlich die tollste Sprache! Erlich gesagt schau ich Anne Will nur wegen Anne. Auf sprachlichen Niveau kann ich fast alles verstehen, aber der Inhalt ist manchmal ein bissi zu anspruchsvoll, und ich muss dann die Sendung mit einem Woerterbuch wiederschauen. Ich lade auch die Tagesthemen als Podcast herunter. Woher kommst du?? Ich werde naechstes Jahr nach Leipzig umziehen. 

    Anne und Miriam sind stimmt mein Lieblingpaerchen! Sie druecken sich nie vor ihren Weiblichket, ziehen mal Kleider an usw, und das ist sehr wichtg fuer mich. Sie zeigen fest, dass man Lesbischsein mt Femininitaet verbinden kann......

      Annes Hosenanzuege und hochgezogenes Augenbrau gefallen aber mir x-mal besser! *lach*

    lG

    x

     

    JeanDoe's picture

    @Erdbeerfluse :D: Es ist

    Submitted by
    JeanDoe (16 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:42pm.

    @Erdbeerfluse :D: Es ist einfach diese Mischung: Die haben was auf dem Kasten, sind lesbisch und sehen auch noch gut aus dabei. Solche Identifikationsfiguren gab es für mich noch nie (Bette Porter is ja leider nicht real *grins*) 

    Ich stell mir das unheimlich schwer vor, deutsch ist glaub definitiv schwieriger zu lernen als z.B. englisch. Alleine die Sache mit dem "der die das" und den Fällen ;) Das kriegen ja die meisten Deutschen nicht mal auf die Reihe.. Ich sag nur "Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod" :D 

    Ich studiere in Hannover (btw behaupten die Leute hier, sie würden das beste hochdeutsch sprechen...) Ich war noch nie in Leipzig, aber der Ossiakzent da ist dann nochmal ne schöne Herausforderung zum lernen ;) Machst du n Auslandssemester oder wird das was permanentes?

     

    Hazel's picture

    I really love Anne Will! I

    Submitted by
    Hazel (2 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 2:41pm.

    I really love Anne Will! I watch her show every week. Anne and Miriam Meckel are such a gorgeous couple. Sophisticated and clever feminine women! I wish there were more couples like them!

     

    Allthough I know nothing about Dunja Hayali it's great to see more women out! Germany is starting to catch up with us here in Scandinavia... we better watch our backs!

    Rabbit317's picture

    Wow

    Submitted by
    Rabbit317 (63 posts)
    on October 22, 2008 - 3:23pm.

    Dunja's adorable!  Always mixed feelings when I see someone so perfectly my type. 

    Damn!!!  She's hot!

    She's gay too!?!  Sweet!!!!

    Oh... she's taken?? :(

    Oh wait... so am I.  Heh.


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