Politics

The Highest Political Offices Held by LGBT+ People Around the World

Aaron Webber

Published: December 17, 2024 8:30 am

It’s easy to sink into our small circles of the internet that act as sounding boards designed to cause outrage and collect confirmation bias points as if it were akin to collecting coins in Super Mario. It is easy to hide from the experiences, lives, pain, positive news, and careers of people who are different than we are on a community and global scale. This is true for every person who ventures into the algorithmic sandmen of the internet that lulls us into a sleepy and comfortable view of the world that is void of nuance and always seems to paint us as the good guys.

24/7 Wall St. Key Points:

• It is increasingly common to see people of LGBT background in elected office around the world.
• As laws and culture change, equal representation in halls of government can become a reality.
• Also: Take this quiz to see if you’re on track to retire (Sponsored)

A couple of decades ago, these leaders would have most likely had to hide their identities on the world stage in which they work, which would have been to the world’s detriment. The existence of these 12 global political leaders proves that the progressive realities of our societies are moving forward, whether your stereotypical bigoted uncle at Thanksgiving likes it or not. These leaders are pioneering the way to a more tolerant, empathetic, and accepting world.

Gabriel Attal

• Country: France
• Office: Prime Minister
• Dates: 1/24–9/24

For a short stint this year, Gabriel Attal served as the Prime Minister of France, appointed by President Emmanual Macron. The role of the Prime Minister is the second highest office in France’s political system. He replaced the previous Prime Minister who resigned a day earlier and became the youngest Prime Minister at age 34 as well as the first openly gay one.

Coming into the position, Attal was planning to implement uniforms in public schools, aimed at reducing school bullying, something that he admitted he was a victim of during his middle school career, including homophobic bullying. He resigned in September after his parliamentary elections coalition failed. He served in a caretaking capacity until 12/13/2024 when he was replaced by Francois Bayrou.

Edgars Rinkēvičs

• Country: Latvia
• Office: President
• Dates: 2023–Present

Rinkēvičs announced proudly that he was gay in 2014 while serving as Latvia’s foreign minister. Besides being Latvia’s first openly gay president, he is also the first openly gay head of state in the entire European Union.

Prior to being elected President in 2023, Rinkēvičs had been serving as Foreign Minister since 2011. He is known for holding the post the longest, supporting Ukraine, and being staunchly opposed to Latvia’s war-hungry neighboring Russia. His election is especially impactful within the Baltic nations, as attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community have been much less tolerant than in the rest of Europe.

Ana Brnabić

• Country: Serbia
• Office: Prime Minister
• Dates: 2017–Present

Brnabić was not only Serbia’s first female Prime Minister but also its first openly lesbian head of government as well. As of 2022, she is serving her third term as the Prime Minister and was elected as Speaker of Parliament in March of this year.

 Currently, Gay marriage in Serbia is illegal, and gay civil partnerships aren’t legally recognized. Despite legal efforts to prevent LGBTQ+ couples from starting families, such as making adoption illegal, Brnabić and her partner welcomed their first child via artificial insemination in 2019. Up until 2008, Serbia legally categorized homosexuality to be an illness, and currently, all transgender people and same-sex couples are not legally protected in the Country.

About her sexuality, Ana Brnabić said, “I’m not a spokesperson for the LGBT community…I don’t want to be branded as a gay minister.” Some Serbian human rights groups think that her appointment is an attempt to portray Serbia as more progressive and tolerant of minorities than it is, in order to ascend to the European Union. Others hail the election as the first step in the right direction, although LBGTQ+ rights seem to not be Brnabić’s main political goal.

Leo Varadkar

• Country: Ireland
• Office: Prime Minister
• Dates: 2017–2020; 2022–2024

Besides being Ireland’s first openly Gay head of government, he is also the nation’s first biracial leader, and at age 45 was the youngest leader. Leo Varadkar came out publicly prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015. After serving a partial second term, Varadkar resigned in April of 2024. He led campaigns in his political career to repeal a 2018 abortion ban and legalize same-sex marriage.

He resigned from his position in April of 2024 for “personal and political reasons, but mostly political.” In regards to his work in government during his resignation statement, he stated “I’m proud that we have made the country a more equal and more modern place.”

Jens Spahn

• Country: Germany
• Office: Deputy Chair of CDU/CSU Group
• Dates: 2021–Present

Rated Germany’s most popular politician, Spahn is one of his parliamentary group’s deputy chairs. He is in charge of climate protection and economic affairs. Previously, he was the Federal Minister of Health from 2018-2021. He is known for his controversial response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2021, public favor turned when it was time to roll out vaccines and open up back up the German economy. His downfall peaked when he tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a private business dinner then very evening he made a statement chastising the German people for participating in close-quarter social events.

Spahn married his husband in 2017. He has been a proponent of human rights, including pushing a law that banned gay conversion therapy in Germany, stating that it is, a “form of assault.” He continued saying, “Homosexuality is not an illness and therefore does not need therapy…I do not believe in these therapies, mainly owing to my own homosexuality. From a legal point of view, these services today can be a form of assault, and not only against minors.”

Pete Buttigieg

• Country: United States of America
• Office: Secretary of Transportation
• Dates: 2021–Present

Pete Buttigieg is the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary. He served as the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana from 2012-2020, After the birth of his twins in 2021, he decided to take parental leave, which brought extreme criticism from republican opponents and colleges. His decision to take parental leave contributed positively to the controversial practice saying, “I will not apologize for taking care of my premature newborn infant twins. The work we are doing is joyful, fulfilling, and wonderful work.” He has been married to his spouse, Chasten Gelzman, since 2018.

Buttigieg is also a proponent of racial equity and launched projects such as the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program in 2022. He was called, “The most powerful transportation secretary ever,” with the transportation department having had $210 billion of discretionary grants after the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Sarah McBride

• Country: United States of America
• Office: Delaware Congress
• Dates: 2024–Present

Sarah McBride is the first openly transgender member of the United States Congress. When she was 25 years old in 2016, she was the first openly transgender person to address a major party convention (Democratic National Convention) while serving as the national press secretary of the Human Rights Campaign.

While she served in the Delaware State Senate, she championed the Digital Citizenship Education Act, and the Protect Medicaid Act, which requires students to be educated in media literacy, and secured $175 million in additional federal funding for Medicaid in Delaware.

McBride details in her memoir (introduction written by President Joe Biden) Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality (2081), that she had almost always felt uncomfortable with her assigned-at-birth identity, and came out at the age of 21 after not being able to hide herself any longer.

She has faced extreme prejudice and bigoted attacks from Republican members of Congress, who incited a trans bathroom ban. The policy was instituted by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Because Speaker Johnson has “general control,” of the chamber facilities, he states that he has the authority to bar Congresswoman-Elect McBride from using restrooms, changing rooms, and locker rooms.

In response, McBride said, “I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down the costs facing families. Like all members, I will follow the rules outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them.”

Danica Roem

• Country: United States of America
  
• Office: Virginia Senate
• Dates: 2024–Present

Danica Roem is the second openly transgender person elected to a state senate, first for Virginia! Roem first made political history by becoming the first openly transgender elected person seated in a state legislature.

About her victory over the governor-endorsed Republican opponent, she said, “The voters have shown they want a leader who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding kids, and protecting our land instead of stigmatizing trans kids or taking away your civil rights.” Despite the constant anti-trans hate that she encountered on the campaign trail, she rose above and focused on the actual issues.