Gay Paris Mayor Sets Sights on Presidency

The battle is on for the leadership of France's opposition Socialist Party, and a man who says the nation is ready for a gay president is the surprise leader, the Telegraph reports. Bertrand Delanoë, the popular mayor of Paris, is the early favorite, outpolling Ségolène Royal, who lost last year's election to Nicolas Sarkozy. 

Delanoë, 57, was a surprise winner in 2001 and was easily reelected this year. Once stabbed by a homophobe, he says in a recent book, "People think that homosexuality is accepted in Paris but not in the suburbs and the provinces. That is a false idea. As people feel that it's not a problem for me, it is no longer a problem for them," (More Segolene Royal stories.)