Xavier Bettel wears a golden wedding ring on the ring finger of his left hand. In his case, that's something that is certainly worth mentioning. Just three weeks ago, the 42-year-old prime minister of Luxembourg married his long-term partner, Gauthier Destanay of Belgium. "It was an obvious step for me -- we've been together for years," says Bettel. "I am happy to live in a country in which a large majority in parliament voted for same-sex marriage."
Prime Minister Bettel was able to marry thanks to a law that his government passed as one of its first acts. Prior to his election, as a member of the opposition, Bettel himself had experienced firsthand how deeply rooted anti-gay sentiment remains, including in Luxembourg. A state secretary from former Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker's government called him "miss" during a debate in parliament.
Today, he's the prime minister of the Grand Duchy and the first and only male leader of a European Union government to have married a man. A year and a half ago, he replaced Juncker, who had lost power because of a secret service scandal. Juncker has since become president of the European Commission, but he left behind a difficult legacy for the unusual government coalition that replaced him, comprised of the business-friendly liberals, Social Democrats and Greens. » | Christoph Schult | Monday, June 08, 2015
WIKI: Xavier Bettel »
