It looks from the recent polls coming out of the Netherlands today that their next Prime Minister will be their youngest one ever, but more importantly, the first openly gay one. 36-year-old Rob Jetten is the leader of the centrist Democrats 66 (D66) Party, and in his victory speech after the election exit poll, he said: “Today, we achieved D66’s best result ever, and we may well be the largest party in the country… One thing is quite certain. Millions of Dutch people have turned a page today. They have turned the page on negativity, hatred, and the notion of it can’t be done.”
Jetten, known for his progressive stance on climate action, equality, and social liberalism, celebrated the results, saying they show it’s possible to “defeat populist and far-right movements”.
His victory will make him the 10th member of a very exclusive club: openly queer National Leaders which to date
| Name | Portrait | Country | Office | Type of leader | Tenure start | Tenure end | Term length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ana Brnabić |  |
 Serbia |
Prime Minister | Head of government | 29 June 2017 | 20 March 2024 | 6 years, 265 days | |
| Edgars Rinkēvičs* | .jpg) |
 Latvia |
President | Head of state | 8 July 2023 | Incumbent | 2 years, 112 days | |
| Elio Di Rupo |  |
 Belgium |
Prime Minister | Head of government | 6 December 2011 | 11 October 2014 | 2 years, 309 days | |
| Gabriel Attal | .jpg) |
 France |
Prime Minister | Head of government | 9 January 2024 | 5 September 2024 | 240 days | |
| Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir |  |
 Iceland |
Prime Minister | Head of government | 1 February 2009 | 23 May 2013 | 4 years, 111 days | |
| Leo Varadkar | .jpg) |
 Ireland |
Taoiseach | Head of government | 14 June 2017 | 27 June 2020 | 3 years, 13 days | |
| Leo Varadkar | |
Ireland |
Taoiseach | Head of government | 17 December 2022 | 9 April 2024 | 1 year, 114 days | |
| Paolo Rondelli |  |
 San Marino |
Captain Regent | Head of state | 1 April 2022 | 1 October 2022 | 183 days | |
| Xavier Bettel | _CROP_BETTEL.jpg) |
 Luxembourg |
Prime Minister | Head of government | 4 December 2013 | 17 November 2023 | 9 years, 348 days | |
Behind Jetten is his husband Argentinian field hockey player Nicolás Santiago Keenan
Comments
One response to “The Netherlands elects ROB JETTEN as their first openly gay Premier”
I’m not Dutch and I’m not Queer but that doesn’t stop me admiring Rob Jetten. Hopefully this will encourage others in public roles to come forward, of cause only if they feel comfortable doing so. We don’t know peoples personal life and it may cause personal problems. However, if you have secrets you are open to blackmail and it may well be wrong but being Queer can still be problematic. Hopefully other people in the public eye will find the courage to speak openly about any issues that could be used against them.