A prime minister says "I do"
Luxembourg's prime minister says "I do": Xavier Bettel becomes the first EU head of government to marry his partner.
On 15 May 2015, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel married his partner Gauthier Destenay, a Belgian architect. He thus became the first serving head of government in the European Union to marry a same-sex partner. Worldwide, only Iceland's Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir had taken this step before him, in 2010 and thus outside the EU.
The ceremony at the capital's city hall was actually meant to remain simple. Nevertheless, around a hundred well-wishers waited outside the building and threw rice and confetti. Afterwards there was a private celebration with around 500 guests. Bettel was 42 at the time and had been in office since 2013. Among the guests was Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who spoke of a friend's wedding. The couple had been in a registered partnership since 2010, and Bettel had announced their engagement in August 2014.
The timing fitted the situation in the country. Parliament had passed marriage equality in June 2014, and couples had been able to marry since 1 January 2015. A week after Bettel's wedding, Catholic Ireland voted on opening marriage. The evening before, Bettel said on Belgian television that he had never wanted to hide. Anyone who wanted to be honest in politics had to be honest with themselves first.
At the time, Luxembourg was the only country in the world with a gay prime minister and a gay deputy prime minister, Etienne Schneider. The journalist Stéphane Bern, a friend, spoke of a message in times of growing homophobia in Europe. There was no time for a honeymoon at first: the small state took over the presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July, and Bettel was also campaigning for a referendum on reforms in his own country.