Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Serbia

b. September 28, 1975

“We want to send a signal that diversity makes our society stronger.”

In June 2017 Ana Brnabić became the first female and the first gay prime minister of the conservative country of Serbia. She is the world’s fifth-ever openly LGBT head of state.

Brnabić was born in Belgrade, the capital and largest city in Serbia. Her early education focused on science and mathematics. She received her bachelor's degree in business administration from the Northwood University of Michigan, and in 2001 earned her MBA in marketing from the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.

Brnabić worked in program management, communications and economic development for Serbian local governments, international organizations and private industry. Among her many jobs, she worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Belgrade as senior program coordinator for the Serbia Municipal Economic Growth Activity Sector and as director of information and public outreach for the Serbia Local Government Reform Program.

In 2007 Brnabić became the acting director in Belgrade of Booz Allen Hamilton, a leading American management consulting firm, where she led the Serbia Competitiveness Project for USAID. Brnabić also served as president of the management board of Serbia’s National Alliance for Local Economic Development. In 2011 she became the communications and strategic development director of Continental Wind Serbia, where she helped oversee investments for a wind park.

In 2016 Brnabić was appointed public administration minister of Serbia, her first political position. A year later she was elected prime minister.

As the country’s leader, Brnabić works to move Serbia closer to membership in the European Union (EU), modernize the nation, reform education, eliminate corruption and improve foreign relations, particularly with Russia, China and the United States.

According to The New York Times, roughly half the Serbian population views homosexuality as an illness. The country’s LGBT population has endured a history of discrimination, including violence during the 2010 pride march. Same-sex marriages are not legally recognized. On September 17, 2017, Brnabić marched with several hundred gay activists at the Belgrade pride march. She is the first head of state from any Balkan nation to attend a major LGBT celebration.
 
Brnabić's longtime partner, Milica Djurdjic, a doctor, gave birth to their son, Igor, in 2019. Brnabić's office issued an official statement about the birth and identified Igor as the first child in history born to the same-sex partner of a head of state.

Prime Minister of Ireland

b. January 18, 1979

“Our democracy is vibrant and robust and can survive divisive debates and make difficult decisions.”

Leo Eric Varadkar is the first openly gay Taoiseach (prime minister) of the Republic of Ireland. He is also Ireland’s youngest prime minister and the first of Indian extraction.

Varadkar was born in Dublin, the nation’s capital, and raised Catholic. His father, a Hindu, was born in Mumbai, India, and immigrated to the United Kingdom to work as a doctor. His mother, a Catholic, worked as a nurse in Slough, England. The couple moved to Dublin six years before Varadkar was born.

Varadkar attended secondary school at The King’s Hospital, a boarding school administered by the Church of England. He joined Young Fine Gael, the youth wing of Fine Gael, the Irish liberal-conservative and Christian democratic political party. Varadkar maintained his party affiliation. 

Varadkar studied medicine at Trinity College in Dublin and worked as a non-consultant hospital doctor before qualifying as a general practitioner. He earned his first significant political post in 2004 as a member of the Fingal County Council, located north of Dublin City, before serving as deputy mayor. 

As a longtime statesman, Varadkar has held important and diverse roles within the Irish government. In 2007 he was elected to the Teachta Dála, the lower house of Ireland’s parliament. He has since served consecutively as minister for transport, tourism, and sport; minister for health; and minister for social protection.

Varadkar came out in 2015 during the referendum that legalized same-sex marriage in Ireland. In June 2017, when the country formed its 31st government, he became Ireland’s prime minister and minister for defence at the age of 38.

In becoming Ireland’s first gay prime minister, Varadkar also became the world’s fourth openly gay head of government. As Taoiseach, he also leads his political party, which promotes their support of LGBT rights and families by displaying ads in the Gay Community News (GCN). 

By January 2018 Varadkar’s approval rating had reached 60%—the highest of any Irish prime minister in 10 years. A few months later, TIME magazine named Varadkar to its list of the 100 Most Influential People of the year. In May the predominantly Catholic country voted to legalize abortion. Varadkar described it as “the culmination of a quiet revolution.”  

Varadkar lives with his boyfriend, Dr. Matt Barrett, a cardiologist. In 2018 the couple marched hand-in-hand in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade.