Europe leads world in number of openly gay leaders in office

Europe leads the world in the number of openly gay political leaders in office.

In Iceland, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir became the world's first openly gay head of government when she took office in 2009.

In Belgium, Elio Di Rupo became an EU nation's first openly gay premier in 2011. In 2020, Belgium appointed Petra de Sutter as Europe's first transgender deputy prime minister.

In Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel became the second openly gay head of government in an EU country when he was elected in 2013, following Belgium's Di Rupo.

In Serbia, Ana Brnabić became the first woman and first openly gay politician to hold the office in 2017.

In Ireland, Leo Varadkar served as Taoiseach from 2017-2020, making him Ireland's first gay leader. He re-entered office in 2022.

In Latvia, Edgars Rinkevics became the region's first openly gay head of state this year 2023.

In Andorra, the prime minister Xavier Espot Zamora came out as gay last september.

Next gay leader in office could be in Greece. Leftist opposition Syriza party elected Stefanos Kasselakis, the first time an openly LGBTQ figure has headed one of the Greek main political parties.

Europe rainbow map 2023 by ILGA-Europe