Hot on the heels of the recent news that Andorra’s prime minister, Xavier Espot Zamora, has come out as gay, Greece is following suit. 35-year-old Greek-American businessman Stefanos Kasselakis was elected to lead the largest opposition party in Greece on Sunday, becoming the first out-gay leader of a political party in the country’s history – and now he’s ready to become Greece’s first gay prime minister.
Kasselakis is out and married to Tyler McBeth, a nurse he met while living in the U.S. Kasselakis mentioned McBeth during his acceptance speech to Syriza supporters on Sunday. He is one of a growing number of government leaders who have made history by publicly coming out as queer. They include:
Edgars Rinkēvičs the new President of Lativa and currently the European Union’s first openly gay head of state.
Ana Brnabić
is on her 3rd term as Prime Minister of Serbia. In this conservative country, the constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and gay civil partnerships, such as the one Brnabić is in with her partner, are not officially recognized. Additionally, same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt children.
Xavier Bettel
is the first openly gay prime minister of Luxembourg, a largely Roman Catholic nation. In 2015, he became the first serving European Union leader to marry their same-sex partner when he wed Gauthier Destenay in a small private ceremony.
Leo Varadkar became Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister when he took office in 2017. Just two years earlier, he had publicly come out as gay prior to Ireland’s referendum legalizing same-sex marriage. “I am a gay man, it’s not a secret, but not something that everyone would necessarily know,” Varadkar said, according to The Irish Times. “It’s not something that defines me…. It’s part of my character.”
Paolo Rondelli
was elected by lawmakers in San Marino, a microstate in northern Italy, in 2022 as one of two captains regent, who together serve as San Marino’s heads of state. San Marino was founded in the year 301 and is one of the world’s oldest countries.
Jerónimo Saavedra twice served as president of the Canary Islands, a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago off the coast of Morocco. Saavedra, who also served in the Spanish Senate and as mayor of Las Palmas, the capital city of the Canary Islands, was the first openly gay politician in Spain.
Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir made history on Feb. 1, 2009, when she became Iceland‘s first female prime minister and the world’s first openly gay head of government.
Elio Di Rupo became Belgium’s first openly gay leader when he took office as prime minister in December 2011. Di Rupo opened up about this sexuality to reporters after being accused of having sex and abusing underage males, something he staunchly denied.
Xavier Espot Zamora is the current serving prime minister of Andorra, a former judge and minister of justice
Meanwhile, in the US the highest governmental positions held by out LGBTQ+ people are State Governors: JARED POLIS of Colorado, MAURA HEALEY of Massachusetts and TINA KOTEK of Oregon. There are 535 Members of the US Congress and although it currently has the most LGBTQ+ members ever, they still number just 13!!
In the UK Chris Smith has been the only out gay Cabinet Minister (although he was preceded by several closeted men). Good news though is that currently 62 of the 650 Members of Parliament identify as LGBTQ+
Labels: 2023, Government Leaders, Heads of State, LGBTQ
