Congratulations! Luxembourg's PM weds his same-sex partner

Congratulations! Luxembourg's PM weds his same-sex partner

Luxembourg's gay Prime Minister has tied the knot today ... but not to his gay Deputy Prime Minister.

The small European country – which has a population of just 550,000 –   is the only one in the world that has both a gay PM, Xavier Bettel, and an openly gay Deputy PM, Etienne Schneider.

Luxembourg  passed equal marriage by a landslide vote of 56-4 in June  last year, and the law came into effect in January  with remarkably little attention.
Mr Bettel and partner Gauthier Destenay opted to take advantage of the laws themselves - by tying the knot themselves in a private ceremony today.

There was a strict ban on press at the ceremony, but a number of other European politicians were reported to attend.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel was among those spotted in the crowd - but due to the pair's wish to celebrate in private, no official guests list has been released.

David Cameron was in London all day today, however - and not at the ceremony.

The pair have frequently been seen together - and bizarrely Mr Cameron was recently photographed tickling his Luxembourg counterpart.

Here's a pic of D-Cam tickling Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel. Tyrant. pic.twitter.com/5V8nrAsZ6n — Daniel Green (@DanGreen1986) May 8, 2015

However, Labour MEP Seb Dance sent his best wishes to the couple.

Big congratulations to Luxembourg's Prime Minister @Xavier_Bettel and his partner Gauthier Destenay who are getting married today!

— Seb Dance MEP (@SebDance) May 15, 2015


A notoriously homophobic Greek MP previously launched a tirade at Mr Bettel , branding him and his partner "faggot mates" after news of their engagement broke.

Ever the diplomat, Mr Bettel replied: "Hello, I heard you want to tell me something, but I don’t speak Greek. Sorry.”

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