List of openly LGBT heads of state and government

This is a list of openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, or trans (LGBT) 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.

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Heads of state

Denotes incumbent head of state

Name	Portrait	Country	National population (while in office)	Office	Political party	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Sexual orientation/ gender identity
Paolo Rondelli		San Marino	33,627 (2021 estimate)	Captain Regent	RETE Movement	1 April 2022	1 October 2022	183 days	Gay^[1]
Edgars Rinkēvičs		Latvia	1,827,533 (2023 estimate)	President	Unity	8 July 2023	Incumbent	277 days	Gay^[2]^[3]

Heads and deputy heads of government

Denotes incumbent head of government

Name	Country	National population (while in office)	Office	Political party	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Sexual orientation/ gender identity
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir	Iceland	315,556 (2011 census)	Prime Minister	Social Democratic Alliance	1 February 2009	23 May 2013	4 years, 111 days	Lesbian^[4]
Elio Di Rupo	Belgium	11,000,638 (2011 census)	Prime Minister	Socialist Party	6 December 2011	11 October 2014	2 years, 309 days	Gay^[5]
Xavier Bettel	Luxembourg	660,804 (2023 estimate)	Prime Minister	Democratic Party	4 December 2013	17 November 2023	9 years, 348 days	Gay^[6]
Leo Varadkar	Ireland	5,149,139 (2022 census)	Taoiseach	Fine Gael	14 June 2017	27 June 2020	3 years, 13 days	Gay^[7]
Leo Varadkar	Ireland	5,149,139 (2022 census)	Taoiseach	Fine Gael	17 December 2022	9 April 2024	1 year, 114 days	Gay^[7]
Ana Brnabić	Serbia	6,926,705 (2020 estimate)	Prime Minister	Progressive Party	29 June 2017	20 March 2024	6 years, 265 days	Lesbian^[8]
Xavier Espot Zamora	Andorra	81,588 (2023 estimate)	Prime Minister	Democrats for Andorra	16 May 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 330 days	Gay^[9]
Gabriel Attal	France	68,042,591 (2023 estimate)	Prime Minister	Renaissance	9 January 2024	Incumbent	92 days	Gay^[10]

Deputy heads of government

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	Country	National population (while in office)	Office	Political party	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Sexual orientation/ gender identity
Guido Westerwelle	Germany	80,200,000 (2011 census)	Vice-Chancellor	Free Democratic Party	28 October 2009	16 May 2011	1 year, 200 days	Gay
Etienne Schneider	Luxembourg	604,245 (2018 estimate)	Deputy Prime Minister	Socialist Workers' Party	4 December 2013	4 February 2020	6 years, 62 days	Gay
Kajsa Ollongren	Netherlands	17,590,672 (2022 estimate)	Second Deputy Prime Minister	Democrats 66	26 October 2017	1 November 2019	2 years, 6 days	Lesbian
Kajsa Ollongren	Netherlands	17,590,672 (2022 estimate)	Second Deputy Prime Minister	Democrats 66	14 May 2020	10 January 2022	1 year, 241 days	Lesbian
Petra De Sutter	Belgium	11,492,641 (2020 estimate)	Deputy Prime Minister	Groen	1 October 2020	Incumbent	3 years, 192 days	Trans woman
Grant Robertson	New Zealand	5,136,220 (2022 estimate)	Deputy Prime Minister	Labour Party	6 November 2020	25 January 2023	2 years, 80 days	Gay
Xavier Bettel	Luxembourg	660,804 (2023 estimate)	Deputy Prime Minister	Democratic Party	17 November 2023	Incumbent	145 days	Gay
Rob Jetten	Netherlands	18,008,200 (2024 estimate)	First Deputy Prime Minister	Democrats 66	8 January 2024	Incumbent	93 days	Gay

Sub-national leaders

Denotes incumbent head of sub-national government

Name	Entity	Country	Office	Political party	Mandate start	Mandate end	Term length	Sexual orientation/ gender identity
Don Dunstan	South Australia	Australia	Premier	Labor	1 June 1967	17 April 1968	321 days	Bisexual
Don Dunstan	South Australia	Australia	Premier	Labor	2 June 1970	15 February 1979	8 years, 258 days	Bisexual
Jerónimo Saavedra^[a]	Canary Islands	Spain	President	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party	29 November 1982	4 July 1987	4 years, 217 days	Gay
Jerónimo Saavedra^[a]	Canary Islands	Spain	President	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party	11 July 1991	2 April 1993	1 year, 265 days	Gay
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
					6 October 2005	20 July 2007	1 year, 287 days
					13 September 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 210 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
Klaus Wowereit	Berlin	Germany	Governing Mayor	Social Democratic Party of Germany	16 June 2001	11 December 2014	13 years, 178 days	Gay
Ole von Beust	Hamburg	Germany	First Mayor	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	31 October 2001	25 August 2010	8 years, 298 days	Gay
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
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
Lynne Brown	Western Cape	South Africa	Premier	African National Congress	25 July 2008	6 May 2009	315 days	Lesbian
Allan Bell	Isle of Man	United Kingdom	Chief Minister	Independent	11 October 2011	4 October 2016	4 years, 359 days	Gay
Martin Klöti [de]	St. Gallen	Switzerland	Member of the Executive Council	The Liberals	1 June 2012	31 May 2020	7 years, 365 days	Gay
Rosario Crocetta	Sicily	Italy	President	Democratic Party	10 November 2012	18 November 2017	5 years, 8 days	Gay
Kathleen Wynne	Ontario	Canada	Premier	Liberal Party	11 February 2013	29 June 2018	5 years, 116 days	Lesbian
Andrew Barr	Australian Capital Territory	Australia	Chief Minister	Labor	11 December 2014	Incumbent	9 years, 121 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
Niluka Ekanayake	Sabaragamuwa Province	Sri Lanka	Governor	Independent	12 April 2018	31 December 2018	263 days	Trans woman
Arno Brok	Friesland	Netherlands	King's Commissioner	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy	1 March 2017	Incumbent	7 years, 40 days	Gay
Eduardo Leite	Rio Grande do Sul	Brazil	Governor	Brazilian Social Democracy Party	1 January 2019	31 March 2022	3 years, 89 days	Gay
Eduardo Leite	Rio Grande do Sul	Brazil	Governor	Brazilian Social Democracy Party	1 January 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 100 days	Gay
Fátima Bezerra	Rio Grande do Norte	Brazil	Governor	Workers' Party	1 January 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 100 days	Lesbian
Jared Polis	Colorado	United States	Governor	Democratic Party	8 January 2019	Incumbent	5 years, 93 days	Gay
Gustavo Melella	Tierra del Fuego	Argentina	Governor	FORJA Concertation Party	17 December 2019	Incumbent	4 years, 115 days	Gay
Claudia López Hernández	Bogotá	Colombia	Mayor	Green Alliance	1 January 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 100 days	Lesbian
Maura Healey	Massachusetts	United States	Governor	Democratic Party	5 January 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 96 days	Lesbian
Tina Kotek	Oregon	United States	Governor	Democratic Party	9 January 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 92 days	Lesbian

^ Publicly came out after retirement, although while being a senator.

Others

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

Frederick the Great, King of Prussia between 1740 and 1786, was officially married to Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, but he is considered to have been homosexual by most historians. He had many suspected relationships with men and wrote homoerotic poetry. He never came out, although he did not do much to hide it.^[11] After his death, many historians tried to pass off his homosexuality as a rumor, but it is now widely accepted.
William II, King of the Netherlands between 1840 and 1849 and head of government until the constitutional reform of 1848, was either gay or bisexual; he had been blackmailed because of his sexual orientation.^[12]^[13]
Ludwig II, King of Bavaria between 1864 and 1886. Ludwig never married nor had any known mistresses. His diary, private letters, and other documents reveal his strong homosexual desires,^[14] which he struggled to suppress to remain true to the teachings of the Catholic Church.^[15] Throughout his reign, Ludwig had a succession of close friendships with men, including his aide-de-camp the Bavarian prince Paul von Thurn und Taxis, his chief equerry and master of the horse, Richard Hornig, the Hungarian theater actor Josef Kainz, and courtier Alfons Weber.^[16]^[17] Letters from Ludwig reveal that the quartermaster of the royal stables, Karl Hesselschwerdt, acted as his male procurer.^[18]^[19]^[20]
Prince Maximilian of Baden, German chancellor in 1918. The Prince was gay, and was listed as such in a document by the Baden criminal police when he was young, but married Princess Marie Louise of Hanover. He is said to have been in a relationship with geologist Wilhelm Paulcke [de] from at least 1912.^[21]
Gustaf V, king of Sweden between 1910 and 1950, was either gay or bisexual. After his death, restaurateur Kurt Haijby revealed that he and the king had a homosexual relationship. Haijby had threatened to reveal the relationship but was paid by the crown to keep silent.^[22]
Richard Hatfield, Premier of the province of New Brunswick between 1970 and 1987, never officially came out during his lifetime; his sexual orientation only began to be discussed on the record in media and biographical sources after his death.^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]
Canaan Banana, the first President of Zimbabwe between 1980 and 1987, was found to be either gay or bisexual in 1997, despite his denial. After a highly publicized trial, he was convicted in 1998 of 11 counts of sodomy and "unnatural acts", for which he was imprisoned for six months.^[28]^[29]^[30]^[31]^[32]
Kārlis Ulmanis, the authoritarian leader of Latvia between 1934 and 1940, was unmarried and his possible sexual orientation was actively discussed both during his reign and after the restoration of Latvia's independence.^[33]^[34]^[35]

References

^ Anarte, Enrique (2022-01-12). "Tiny European states play catch up on LGBT+ equality". news.trust.org. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
^ "Par Valsts prezidentu ievēlēts ārlietu ministrs Edgars Rinkēvičs". LSM (in Latvian). 31 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^ Eglitis, Aaron (31 May 2023). "EU's First Openly Gay Head of State Elected by Latvian Assembly". Bloomberg. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
^ Gunnarsson, Valur (30 January 2009). "Iceland to elect world's first openly gay PM". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
^ Vander Taelen, Luckas (10 December 2011). "Can Belgium's new prime minister keep living the dream?". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
^ Gayle, Damien (15 May 2015). "Luxembourg's prime minister first EU leader to marry same-sex partner". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
^ Dunne, Seán (2 June 2017). "Varadkar set to be 'first openly gay Irish PM', say world headlines". The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
^ "Srbija ima novu vladu. Ana Brnabić postala premijerka. (Serbia has a new government. Ana Brnabić becomes prime minister". Dirketno.hr. 29 June 2017. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
^ "El presidente de Andorra sale del armario: "Yo soy gay y nunca me he escondido"". The Objective. 11 September 2023.
^ Biseau, Grégoire. "Stéphane Séjourné and Gabriel Attal, a couple at the heart of power". Le Monde. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
^ Blanning, T. C. W. (2016). Frederick the Great: King of Prussia. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6812-8. OCLC 918986371.
^ "Koning Willem II gechanteerd wegens homoseksualiteit".
^ 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.
^ McIntosh, Christopher (1982). The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria. I. B. Tauris. pp. 153–159. ISBN 1-86064-892-4.
^ McIntosh 1982, pp. 155–158.
^ McIntosh 1982, pp. 153–159.
^ Oliver Hilmes, Ludwig II.: Der Unzeitgemäße König, Siedler Verlag, 2013, passim.
^ Holzschuh, Robert, Das Paradies verlorene Ludwigs II': Die persönliche Tragödie des Märchenkönigs, Eichborn 2001, passim
^ Przybilla, Olaf 'Auf vermintem Terrain', Welt, 9.11. 2001
^ 31. Antiquaria Peregrina, Antiquariatsmesse Ludwigsburg, 2017, p62
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Warren Kinsella, "Not everyone loves a parade". Toronto Sun, June 26, 2011.
^ "Definitely out now". Perceptions, September 14, 1994.
^ Richard Starr, Richard Hatfield: The Seventeen Year Saga. Goodread Biography, 1988. ISBN 0887801536.
^ Politician Pays Price For Life On The Edge, Chicago Tribune
^ "Gay politicians come out of the closet and into the cabinet". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 2009.
^ 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.
^ Essays in Honor of Bernth Lindfors, Volume 2, Barbara Harlow, Africa World Press, 2002, page 210
^ Zim's presidential rape scandal, Mail and Guardian, 28 February 1997
^ Taylor, Rebecca. 'They say that power corrupts – and it does'. The Guardian. 23 January 2002.
^ McNeil Jr, Donald G. (27 November 1998). "Zimbabwe's Ex-President Convicted of Sodomy". The New York Times (Archives). Retrieved 8 July 2007.
^ "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.
^ mango.lv. "Pētījums: Kārlis Ulmanis esot bijis gejs". www.delfi.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-05-13.
^ "Kārlis Ulmanis bijis gejs un šodien būtu piedalījies praidā, saka zibakcijas rīkotāji". tv3.lv (in Latvian). Retrieved 2023-05-13.

This page was last edited on 10 April 2024, at 11:27

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