Rob Jetten on Monday became the Netherland\u2019s first openly gay prime minister.<\/p>\n
Jetten\u2019s centrist D66 party won the country\u2019s elections last October, narrowly defeating Geert Wilders\u2019 far-right Party for Freedom.<\/p>\n
King Willem-Alexander on Monday swore in Jetten, who is also the country\u2019s youngest-ever prime minister. The Associated Press notes<\/a> Jetten\u2019s coalition government includes the center-right Christian Democrats and the center-right People\u2019s Party for Freedom and Democracy.<\/p>\n \u201cProud to be able to do this together,\u201d said Jetten in an X post<\/a> before Willem-Alexander swore him in.<\/p>\n COC Nederland, a Dutch LGBTQ advocacy group, in a statement said Jetten \u201cbecoming prime minister shows that your sexual orientation doesn\u2019t have to matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can become a construction worker, a doctor, a lawyer, and even prime minister,\u201d said COC Nederland.<\/p>\n The advocacy group noted<\/a> Jetten has said his government will implement its \u201cRainbow Agreement\u201d that include calls for strengthening nondiscrimination laws \u201cto better protect transgender and intersex people,\u201d appointing more \u201cdiscrimination investigators \u2026 to address violence against LGBTQ+ people and other minorities,\u201d and introducing measures \u201cto promote acceptance in schools.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCOC will hold the Cabinet to that promise,\u201d said COC Nederland.<\/p>\n Jetten\u2019s fianc\u00e9 is Nicol\u00e1s Keenen, an Argentine field hockey player who competed in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.<\/p>\n Jetten is one of two openly gay heads of government: Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora came out<\/a> in 2023. Gay Latvian President Edgars Rink\u0113vi\u010ds, who is the country\u2019s head of state, took office<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n Leo Varadkar,<\/a> who was Ireland\u2019s prime minister from 2017-2020 and from 2022-2024, and Xavier Bettel, who was Luxembourg\u2019s prime minister from 2013-2023, are gay. Ana Brnabi\u0107, who was Serbia\u2019s prime minister from 2017-2024, is a lesbian.<\/p>\n Former Icelandic Prime Minister J\u00f3hanna Sigur\u00f0ard\u00f3ttir in 2009 became the world\u2019s first openly lesbian head of government. Former Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo, former San Marino Captain Regent Paolo Rondelli, and former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal<\/a> are also openly gay.<\/p>\n