Scroll to the top

{{ subpage.title }}

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar leaves after speaking to the media at Government Buildings in Dublin, he has announced he is to step down as Taoiseach and as leader of his party, Fine Gael. Picture date: Wednesday March 20, 2024.

PA via Reuters

Irish PM steps down

Leo Varadkar announced Wednesday that he will step down as Ireland’s Taoiseach, aka prime minister, after leading coalition governments twice – for five of the past seven years. When he came to power in 2017, he was Ireland’s youngest-ever and first openly gay Taoiseach, and the country’s first leader from an Indian background.

Echoing similar sentiments to other young leaders who have stepped down, likeSanna Marin andJacinda Ardern, the former physician cited both personal and political reasons for leaving office.

Read moreShow less

Leo Varadkar, Ana Brnabić, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Xavier Bettel

Current world leaders who are openly LGBTQ+

As of June 2023, it's still rare for a head of government to be openly LGBTQ+. Here are the four leaders currently in office or elected to the top job.

Read moreShow less

Subscribe to our free newsletter, GZERO Daily

Latest