A video appearing to show Angela Merkel kissing a woman has stunned audiences - but all is not what it seems.
The clip, which is actually an advert for German magazine Straight, shows a lookalike of the country’s Chancellor gazing out of the window as she listens to a radio report.
As the newsreader says that 62 per cent of Germans are in favour of gay marriage, the figure shakes her head.
She is then approached by another woman, who puts her arms around her and kisses her.
Straight, which is aimed at young gay women, tweeted the clip alongside the caption “Everyone in Europe hates Merkel? Apart from this woman…”
The advert uses a lookalike of the German Chancellor
According to Pink News, Straight’s editors said that they were not trying to be overly confrontational, but were simply making the point that equality laws for homosexuals in Germany are outdated and “even Angela Merkel herself knows that.”
Earlier this month Merkel revealed that while she thinks same-sex couples should be entitled to marital benefits, they should not themselves be allowed to marry.
She told German YouTube star Florian Mundt, alias LeFloid: “I’m someone who is very supportive of us eliminating all discrimination.
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“We have come a long way; when I remember, 25 years ago, many people didn’t dare to say that they are gay or lesbian.
"Luckily we overcame this; you can enter a partnership, a civil partnership.”
“For me, personally, marriage is a man and a woman living together. That is my concept, but I support civil partnerships.”