Official calls Finnish president a lesbian

Tony Halme, a former professional boxer and a member of the Finland parliament, caused a bit of an uproar Tuesday when he called Finland's president Tarja Halonen a lesbian, Agence France-Presse reports. When the right-winger was asked during a radio interview if he would like to form his own parliamentary group, Halme said, "We have a lesbian as president and me as parliamentarian. Everything seems possible." He later apologized to the president in an open letter.

Halonen, who was elected as president in 2000, used to be the chairwoman of SETA, a Finnish gay and lesbian rights group. She is married to a man, however, and says that she is heterosexual.