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List of openly LGBT heads of state and government

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This is a list of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans (LGBTQ) people who have been the head of state or government of a country or a subnational division such as a state, a province, or a territory. Openly LGBT people have served as national heads of state or government in Andorra, Belgium, France, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, San Marino, and Serbia.

Heads of state

[edit]
  Denotes incumbent head of state
Name Portrait Country Office Political party Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation/
gender identity
Paolo Rondelli  San Marino Captain Regent RETE Movement 1 April 2022 1 October 2022 183 days Gay[1]
Edgars Rinkēvičs  Latvia President Unity 8 July 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 155 days Gay[2][3]

Heads and deputy heads of government

[edit]
  Denotes incumbent head of government
Name Portrait Country Office Political party Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation/
gender identity
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir  Iceland Prime Minister Social Democratic Alliance 1 February 2009 23 May 2013 4 years, 111 days Lesbian[4]
Elio Di Rupo  Belgium Prime Minister Socialist Party 6 December 2011 11 October 2014 2 years, 309 days Gay[5]
Xavier Bettel  Luxembourg Prime Minister Democratic Party 4 December 2013 17 November 2023 9 years, 348 days Gay[6]
Leo Varadkar  Ireland Taoiseach Fine Gael 14 June 2017 27 June 2020 3 years, 13 days Gay[7]
17 December 2022 9 April 2024 1 year, 114 days
Ana Brnabić  Serbia Prime Minister Progressive Party 29 June 2017 20 March 2024 6 years, 265 days Lesbian[8]
Xavier Espot Zamora  Andorra Prime Minister Democrats for Andorra 16 May 2019 Incumbent 5 years, 208 days Gay[9]
Gabriel Attal  France Prime Minister Renaissance 9 January 2024 5 September 2024 240 days Gay[10]

Deputy heads of government

[edit]

Some openly LGBT people have also served as deputy prime ministers, or an analogous office, who may take the position of the acting head of government when they are temporarily absent.

Name Portrait Country Office Political party Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation/
gender identity
Gaëtan Duval  Mauritius Deputy Prime Minister Social Democratic Party 21 August 1983 11 December 1988 5 years, 112 days Gay
Guido Westerwelle  Germany Vice-Chancellor Free Democratic Party 28 October 2009 16 May 2011 1 year, 200 days Gay
Etienne Schneider  Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Socialist Workers' Party 4 December 2013 4 February 2020 6 years, 62 days Gay
Kajsa Ollongren  Netherlands Second Deputy Prime Minister Democrats 66 26 October 2017 1 November 2019 2 years, 6 days Lesbian
14 May 2020 10 January 2022 1 year, 241 days
Leo Varadkar  Ireland Tánaiste Fine Gael 27 June 2020 17 December 2022 2 years, 173 days Gay
Petra De Sutter  Belgium Deputy Prime Minister Groen 1 October 2020 Incumbent 4 years, 70 days Trans woman
Grant Robertson  New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Labour Party 6 November 2020 25 January 2023 2 years, 80 days Gay
Xavier Bettel  Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Democratic Party 17 November 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 23 days Gay
Rob Jetten  Netherlands First Deputy Prime Minister Democrats 66 8 January 2024 2 July 2024 176 days Gay

Sub-national leaders

[edit]
  Denotes incumbent head of sub-national government
Name Portrait Entity Country Office Political party Mandate start Mandate end Term length Sexual orientation/
gender identity
Don Dunstan  South Australia  Australia Premier Labor Party 1 June 1967 17 April 1968 321 days Bisexual
2 June 1970 15 February 1979 8 years, 258 days
Jerónimo Saavedra[a]  Canary Islands  Spain President Socialist Workers' Party 29 November 1982 4 July 1987 4 years, 217 days Gay[11]
11 July 1991 2 April 1993 1 year, 265 days
Gustavo Álvarez Gardeazábal  Valle del Cauca  Colombia Governor Independent 1 January 1998 27 July 1999 1 year, 207 days Gay
Elio Di Rupo  Wallonia  Belgium Minister-President Socialist Party 15 July 1999 4 April 2000 264 days Gay[5]
6 October 2005 20 July 2007 1 year, 287 days
13 September 2019 15 July 2024 4 years, 306 days
Jan Franssen  South Holland  Netherlands King's Commissioner People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 3 May 2000 1 January 2014 13 years, 243 days Gay[12]
Erling Lae  Vestfold  Norway Governor Conservative Party 1 June 2010 30 June 2016 6 years, 29 days Gay[13]
Klaus Wowereit  Berlin  Germany Governing Mayor Social Democratic Party 16 June 2001 11 December 2014 13 years, 178 days Gay[14]
Ole von Beust  Hamburg  Germany First Mayor Christian Democratic Union 31 October 2001 25 August 2010 8 years, 298 days Gay[15]
Jim McGreevey  New Jersey  United States Governor Democratic Party 15 January 2002 15 November 2004 2 years, 305 days Gay
Nichi Vendola  Apulia  Italy President Communist Refoundation Party 4 April 2005 1 June 2015 10 years, 58 days Gay[16]
Clemens Cornielje  Gelderland  Netherlands King's Commissioner People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 31 August 2005 6 February 2019 13 years, 159 days Gay[17]
Bernhard Pulver [de]  Bern   Switzerland Member of the Executive Council Green Party 1 June 2006 31 May 2018 11 years, 364 days Gay[18]
Lynne Brown  Western Cape  South Africa Premier African National Congress 25 July 2008 6 May 2009 315 days Lesbian[19]
Allan Bell  Isle of Man  United Kingdom Chief Minister Independent 11 October 2011 4 October 2016 4 years, 359 days Gay[20]
Martin Klöti [de]  St. Gallen   Switzerland Member of the Executive Council The Liberals 1 June 2012 31 May 2020 7 years, 365 days Gay[21]
Cian O'Callaghan Fingal  Ireland Mayor Labour Party 22 June 2012 15 June 2013 358 days Gay[22]
Rosario Crocetta  Sicily  Italy President Democratic Party 10 November 2012 18 November 2017 5 years, 8 days Gay[23]
Kathleen Wynne  Ontario  Canada Premier Liberal Party 11 February 2013 29 June 2018 5 years, 116 days Lesbian
Fintan Warfield South Dublin  Ireland Mayor Sinn Féin 6 June 2014 25 June 2015 1 year, 19 days Gay[24]
Andrew Barr  Australian Capital Territory  Australia Chief Minister Labor Party 11 December 2014 Incumbent 9 years, 365 days Gay
Kate Brown  Oregon  United States Governor Democratic Party 18 February 2015 9 January 2023 7 years, 325 days Bisexual
Wade MacLauchlan  Prince Edward Island  Canada Premier Liberal Party 23 February 2015 9 May 2019 4 years, 75 days Gay
Niluka Ekanayake Central Province  Sri Lanka Governor Independent 17 March 2016 11 April 2018 2 years, 25 days Trans woman
Sabaragamuwa Province Governor 12 April 2018 31 December 2018 263 days
Arno Brok  Friesland  Netherlands King's Commissioner People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 1 March 2017 Incumbent 7 years, 284 days Gay[25]
Andy Street West Midlands  United Kingdom Mayor Conservative Party 8 May 2017 5 May 2024 6 years, 363 days Gay[26]
Thierry Apothéloz [fr]  Geneva   Switzerland Member of the Council of State Social Democratic Party 1 June 2018 Incumbent 6 years, 192 days Gay[27]
Eduardo Leite  Rio Grande do Sul  Brazil Governor Social Democracy Party 1 January 2019 31 March 2022 3 years, 89 days Gay
1 January 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 344 days
Fátima Bezerra  Rio Grande do Norte  Brazil Governor Workers' Party 1 January 2019 Incumbent 5 years, 344 days Lesbian
Jared Polis  Colorado  United States Governor Democratic Party 8 January 2019 Incumbent 5 years, 337 days Gay
Gustavo Melella  Tierra del Fuego  Argentina Governor FORJA Concertation Party 17 December 2019 Incumbent 4 years, 359 days Gay
Claudia López Hernández  Bogotá  Colombia Mayor Green Alliance 1 January 2020 31 December 2023 3 years, 364 days Lesbian
Bent Høie  Rogaland  Norway Governor Conservative Party 1 November 2021 Incumbent 3 years, 39 days Gay[28]
Emma Murphy South Dublin  Ireland Mayor Fianna Fáil 24 June 2022 29 June 2023 1 year, 5 days Lesbian[29]
Maura Healey  Massachusetts  United States Governor Democratic Party 5 January 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 340 days Lesbian
Tina Kotek  Oregon  United States Governor Democratic Party 9 January 2023 Incumbent 1 year, 336 days Lesbian
Karl Love  Isle of Wight  United Kingdom Chair Independent 15 May 2024 Incumbent 209 days Gay[30]
  1. ^ Publicly came out after retirement, although while being a senator.

Others

[edit]

Politicians who were closeted while in office and never officially came out or were outed only after their deaths or retirement include:

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Anarte, Enrique (2022-01-12). "Tiny European states play catch up on LGBT+ equality". news.trust.org. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
  2. ^ "Par Valsts prezidentu ievēlēts ārlietu ministrs Edgars Rinkēvičs". LSM (in Latvian). 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  3. ^ Eglitis, Aaron (31 May 2023). "EU's First Openly Gay Head of State Elected by Latvian Assembly". Bloomberg. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  4. ^ Gunnarsson, Valur (30 January 2009). "Iceland to elect world's first openly gay PM". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b Vander Taelen, Luckas (10 December 2011). "Can Belgium's new prime minister keep living the dream?". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  6. ^ Gayle, Damien (15 May 2015). "Luxembourg's prime minister first EU leader to marry same-sex partner". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ^ Dunne, Seán (2 June 2017). "Varadkar set to be 'first openly gay Irish PM', say world headlines". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  8. ^ "Srbija ima novu vladu. Ana Brnabić postala premijerka. (Serbia has a new government. Ana Brnabić becomes prime minister". Dirketno.hr (in Serbian). 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  9. ^ "El presidente de Andorra sale del armario: "Yo soy gay y nunca me he escondido"". The Objective (in Spanish). 11 September 2023.
  10. ^ Biseau, Grégoire. "Stéphane Séjourné and Gabriel Attal, a couple at the heart of power". Le Monde. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  11. ^ Ferrera, Toni (21 November 2013). "Cuando Jerónimo Saavedra visibilizó su homosexualidad a los 64 años tras la muerte de su pareja". El Diario (in Spanish). Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
  12. ^ Slingerland, Monic (23 May 2009). "'Ik ervoer warmte en openheid'". Trouw (in Dutch).
  13. ^ Mo, Ida Svingen (18 June 2007). "Lae hyllet i Berlin". Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 10 January 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  14. ^ Witting, Volker (9 June 2021). ""Ich bin schwul - und das ist auch gut so!"". Deutsche Welle (in German).
  15. ^ "Ole von Beust heiratet 22-jährigen Ex-Praktikanten". Welt (in German). 25 June 2013.
  16. ^ Boni, Frederico (19 August 2019). "Nichi Vendola: "Sono un padre innamorato, al Governo incolti e irresponsabili"". Gay.it (in Italian).
  17. ^ "Clemens Cornielje was een 'warm mens' én een kat met negen levens" (in Dutch). Arnhem. 17 March 2022.
  18. ^ Geister, Frank (15 October 2018). "«Es geht um die Frage, wie man liebt»". Der Bund (in German).
  19. ^ Smith, David (26 May 2014). "South Africa appoints first lesbian to cabinet". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "Chief Minister comes out to UK newspaper". Manx Radio. 5 October 2015.
  21. ^ Elsener, Marcel. "«Bis in jeder Familie einer schwul ist»". Tagblatt (in German).
  22. ^ "Ireland's 'first openly gay mayor' elected". The Journal. 22 June 2012.
  23. ^ "Rosario Crocetta: "Sono gay, ma se potessi tornare indietro non lo direi più"". il Fatto Nissèno (in Italian). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  24. ^ "New mayor of South Dublin says he's proud to be 'an openly LGBT mayor'". The Journal. 6 June 2014.
  25. ^ "SGP steunt burgemeester Dordrecht". Rijnmond (in Dutch). 11 January 2010.
  26. ^ Rowe, Nathan (14 June 2022). "Andy Street didn't realise he was gay until 30 - and talks of 'intense friendship' with MP Michael Fabricant". Express & Star.
  27. ^ Hugo, Frédéric (1 November 2013). "«J'ai décidé de ne rien cacher»". 360.ch (in French).
  28. ^ "Bent Høie og ektemannen går fra hverandre etter 26 år". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). 4 October 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  29. ^ Wilson, Jade (24 June 2022). "Fianna Fáil councillor becomes first LGBTQ+ woman elected as mayor of local authority". The Irish Times.
  30. ^ Little, Lori (26 May 2024). "New Isle of Wight Council chair Karl Love will champion inclusivity". Isle of Wight County Press.
  31. ^ Blanning, T. C. W. (2016). Frederick the Great: King of Prussia. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6812-8. OCLC 918986371.
  32. ^ "Koning Willem II gechanteerd wegens homoseksualiteit".
  33. ^ Hermans, Dorine and Hooghiemstra, Daniela: Voor de troon wordt men niet ongestrafd geboren, ooggetuigen van de koningen van Nederland 1830–1890, ISBN 978-90-351-3114-9, 2007.
  34. ^ McIntosh, Christopher (1982). The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria. I. B. Tauris. pp. 153–159. ISBN 1-86064-892-4.
  35. ^ McIntosh 1982, pp. 155–158.
  36. ^ McIntosh 1982, pp. 153–159.
  37. ^ Oliver Hilmes, Ludwig II.: Der Unzeitgemäße König, Siedler Verlag, 2013, passim.
  38. ^ Holzschuh, Robert, Das Paradies verlorene Ludwigs II': Die persönliche Tragödie des Märchenkönigs, Eichborn 2001, passim
  39. ^ Przybilla, Olaf 'Auf vermintem Terrain', Welt, 9.11. 2001
  40. ^ 31. Antiquaria Peregrina, Antiquariatsmesse Ludwigsburg, 2017, p62
  41. ^ Machtan, Lothar (2013). Prinz Max von Baden der letzte Kanzler des Kaisers ; eine Biographie (1. Aufl ed.). Berlin: Suhrkamp. pp. 154, 233, 440–445. ISBN 978-3-518-42407-0. OCLC 862796444.
  42. ^ Gianoulis, Tina (November 16, 2006). "Gustav V, King of Sweden (1858-1950)". GLBTQ - An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. Archived from the original on August 3, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  43. ^ Warren Kinsella, "Not everyone loves a parade". Toronto Sun, June 26, 2011.
  44. ^ "Definitely out now". Perceptions, September 14, 1994.
  45. ^ Richard Starr, Richard Hatfield: The Seventeen Year Saga. Goodread Biography, 1988. ISBN 0887801536.
  46. ^ Politician Pays Price For Life On The Edge, Chicago Tribune
  47. ^ "Gay politicians come out of the closet and into the cabinet". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2009.
  48. ^ Mark Steyn (17 November 2003). "Zimbabwe's Banana left legacy of disgrace". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  49. ^ Essays in Honor of Bernth Lindfors, Volume 2, Barbara Harlow, Africa World Press, 2002, page 210
  50. ^ Zim's presidential rape scandal, Mail and Guardian, 28 February 1997
  51. ^ Taylor, Rebecca. 'They say that power corrupts – and it does'. The Guardian. 23 January 2002.
  52. ^ McNeil Jr, Donald G. (27 November 1998). "Zimbabwe's Ex-President Convicted of Sodomy". The New York Times (Archives). Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  53. ^ "News.lv: 'Delfi' atklātais dokuments par Ulmani: aizdomas par 'vadoņa' homoseksualitāti nav dzēstas 08.09.2022 Delfi Plus". news.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  54. ^ mango.lv. "Pētījums: Kārlis Ulmanis esot bijis gejs". www.delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-05-13.
  55. ^ "Kārlis Ulmanis bijis gejs un šodien būtu piedalījies praidā, saka zibakcijas rīkotāji". tv3.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-05-13.
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