Alice Weidel: The lesbian leading a party accused of neo-Nazism

A profile of Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, examining the apparent contradictions in her life: she is a lesbian in a relationship with a woman and raising two sons, while her party promotes a traditional family model of father and mother; she opposes illegal immigration but her partner is a native of Sri Lanka. The article reviews the party's rise, its attitude toward the Nazi past, its positions on immigration and Israel, and places Weidel at the heart of the debate over Germany's direction.

An extensive profile of Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, examining the apparent contradictions in her personal and political life. Weidel, 47, is an openly lesbian woman living in a relationship with a woman born in Sri Lanka, and they are raising two sons together. This is while her party, the AfD, defines the family traditionally as "father, mother, and children" and promotes a conservative line on gender and family issues. Weidel herself separates her private life from her party's stance and sees no contradiction in this. In the 2025 federal elections, the party received 20.8% of the vote and became the second largest in the Bundestag. In the past month, it achieved another success in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt with about 44% of the vote. The article also reviews the AfD's attitude toward Germany's Nazi past, discussing the concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung, and its positions on immigration and Israel. Weidel leads a firm line against illegal immigration, but her partner was born outside Europe. Regarding Israel, the AfD recognizes Israel's right to exist, and Weidel has attacked antisemitism, but called for a halt to the escalation during Operation "With All Might" in 2025. The article presents Weidel as a complex figure: a former economist at Goldman Sachs leading an anti-establishment party, a lesbian in a conservative party, and an opponent of broad immigration with a foreign-born partner.