Ireland's first gay prime mister Leo Varadkar formally elected | Ireland | The Guardian

Contents:

• LEO VARADKAR: GAY, HALF-INDIAN, NSERVATIVE – AND FAVOURE TO BE IRELAND’S NEXT LEAR
• IRELAND'S FIRST GAY PRIME MISTER LEO VARADKAR FORMALLY ELECTED
• 7 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT LEO VARADKAR, IRELAND’S NEXT PM, WHO IS HALF INDIAN & OPENLY GAY
• LEO VARADKAR, GAY SON OF INDIAN IMMIGRANT, TO BE NEXT IRISH PM
• GAY SON OF INDIAN IMMIGRANT LIKELY TO BE IRELAND’S NEXT LEAR
• WHO IS LEO VARADKAR — THE GAY SON OF AN INDIAN IMMIGRANT WHO WILL BE IRELAND’S NEXT PM
• WHO IS LEO VARADKAR? THE INDIAN-ORIG, OPENLY GAY LEAR BACK AS IRELAND PM
• IRISH PM LEO VARADKAR IS GAY, NSERVATIVE — AND OF INDIAN ORIG
• I’M GLAD A GAY MAN OF LOUR WILL BE IRISH PRIME MISTER, EVEN IF I ABHOR HIS POLICS
• LIFE OF A GAY MIGRANT: RACISM EXISTS THE LGBT MUNY TOO
• LEO VARADKAR, THE INDIAN-ORIG GAY MAN POISED TO BE IRELAND’S PMIF ELECTED, LEO VARADKAR WOULD ALSO BEE THE YOUNGT IRISH PRIME MISTER SO FAR. RTERSUPDATED: 04 JUN 2017, 8:31 PM ISTWORLD4 M READSHARE THE QUT DAILY
• IRELAND SET TO HAVE ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY PRIME MISTER, LEO VARADKAR
• "THE PRIME MISTER AND HIS HBAND": GAY LEARS AROUND THE WORLD
• ‘WHEN YOU ARE A PERSON OF LOUR IRELAND PEOPLE DON’T SEE YOU AS GAY’
• LEO VARADKAR TO BEE IRELAND'S YOUNGT, FIRST OPENLY GAY PRIME MISTER

LEO VARADKAR: GAY, HALF-INDIAN, NSERVATIVE – AND FAVOURE TO BE IRELAND’S NEXT LEAR

Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s mister for social protectn, is the strong favoure to replace Enda Kenny as Taoiseach of 38-year-old, who me out as gay durg the same-sex marriage referendum mpaign Ireland 2015, has dropped to 2/5 wh Paddy Power to bee the next lear of Fe Gael, which leads a mory he were to w, would mark a tone for the historilly very nservative untry.

25 ln mory ethnic to lead IrelandMr Varadkar, whose father is Indian, would be the first mory ethnic Taoiseach of Ireland as well as the first gay man to hold the would be the fourth openly gay prime mister the world after Belgium’s El Di Rupo, Iceland’s Johanna Sigurdardottir and Luxembourg’s Xavier Mister Leo Varadkar livers heartfelt speech llg for same-sex marriageThe polician me out a rad terview 2015 before the untry voted to make same-sex marriage said: “It’s not somethg that f me. The son of an Indian immigrant has ma Irish history by beg the untry’s youngt and first openly gay prime Varadkar, 38, was formally elected taoiseach at a nfirmatn ceremony the Dáil Dubl after he won the Fe Gael party learship earlier this month.

Varadkar will be the first openly gay man to hold the post, and his appotment will be nfirmed at the end of the month, when the Irish parliament returns om a break.

IRELAND'S FIRST GAY PRIME MISTER LEO VARADKAR FORMALLY ELECTED

Bis beg an openly gay lear of a major polil party, and a soon-to-be Prime Mister, Varadkar stands out some other ways as well. Here are seven thgs about Leo Varadkar that you should know before he tak office: He is openly gay and me out on January 18, 2015, on his 36th birthday.

7 THGS TO KNOW ABOUT LEO VARADKAR, IRELAND’S NEXT PM, WHO IS HALF INDIAN & OPENLY GAY

Ireland legalized gay marriage 2015, and Varadkar me out a few months after that on a rad show. The son of an Indian immigrant who me out as gay 2015 will be the next Irish prime mister, after he was voted lear of the untry’s ma erng Varadkar’s victory the Fe Gael learship ntt on Friday, which took place after outgog PM Enda Kenny announced his rignatn last month, marks another signifint step forward for equaly the untry, after 2015’s gay marriage well as beg Ireland’s first gay prime mister, Varadkar, 38, will also bee the untry’s youngt lear, and the first om an ethnic mory background. Although Varadkar’s centre-right polics are clearly nservative, he portrays the image of a new, progrsive Ireland, symbolised bt May 2015 when the Republic voted overwhelmgly favour of gay marriage.

“I thk ’s really signifint that both his party and the media Ireland foced on his polici, rather than him simply beg a gay man who wants to lead the untry, ” said Brian Fnegan, the edor of Gay Communy News Dubl. “It is a sign of how much Ireland has changed and moved on that no one really r if he is gay here. Irish policians were among the last sectors of our society to e out of the closet but now at least we’ve got one gay man and a lbian, Cathere Zappone, both the bet.

LEO VARADKAR, GAY SON OF INDIAN IMMIGRANT, TO BE NEXT IRISH PM

9, Jamion for The New York TimDUBLIN — It was a te Irish honeymoon — short and Irish did not waste any time baskg the wonr of the world, that this small untry had leapt to morny wh s first openly gay and half-Indian prime mister, at 38 the youngt taoiseach history.

GAY SON OF INDIAN IMMIGRANT LIKELY TO BE IRELAND’S NEXT LEAR

That he attend the Montreal gay pri para wh his partner, Matthew Barrett, a handsome Irish rdlogist, and the termally cute Jt T sportg tight whe jeans.

But as Ireland looks toward Europe, s young lear is also wary of cultural homogenizatn, makg a pot of gog back to school to perfect his Irish language how his Indian si affected his outlook, Varadkar replied, “I was always aware that there was a whole bigger world out there bee as some kid growg up Dubl the early ’80s, I’d have been the only person of lor my class and my dad would’ve been the only person of lor on the street. ”Did the pedophile sndal the Catholic Church, once so all-powerful Ireland, allow a more liberal attu to velop about gay marriage?

”The prime mister’s progrsive policy on gay marriage do not mean he’s liberal on every issue. “He is liberal enough to mpaign for gay marriage but nservative enough to tackle alleged welfare cheaters, a mpaign that posned him as hard right the ey of many crics, ” said Niall O’Dowd, the founr of, the largt Irish diaspora webse. Senator David Norris, 73, the first Irish polician to publicly e out as gay told CNN that he unrstands why Varadkar wants to foc on polici and not his personal life.

WHO IS LEO VARADKAR — THE GAY SON OF AN INDIAN IMMIGRANT WHO WILL BE IRELAND’S NEXT PM

Now to be able to have a young, able, good-lookg gay man as prime mister of the untry, says to young people, ‘you n be anythg you want, your sexualy don’t matter, ’” he said.

If elected, Varadkar would be one of two openly gay heads of state currently office – Luxembourg’s prime mister Xavier Bettel beg the other. Ireland’s Mister for Social Protectn Leo Varadkar lnch his mpaign bid for Fe Gael party lear Dubl (Source: Rters/File Photo)In what is beg touted as a huge “generatnal change Ireland’s polil life”, Indian-orig Leo Varadkar won the learship race for the lg party and is all set to bee the untry’s next prime mister makg him Ireland’s first openly gay lear.

In 2015, the once-stnchly Catholic untry had been preparg for a referendum on legalisg gay marriage. “I hontly don’t thk 1981 when I first got elected that I uld foree a time when an openly gay man might bee Taoiseach, ” former Fe Gael puty lear Nora Owen told Rters.

WHO IS LEO VARADKAR? THE INDIAN-ORIG, OPENLY GAY LEAR BACK AS IRELAND PM

“We have e a long way and the fact that someone like Leo Varadkar, who is an openly gay man, livg wh his partner, n actually put himself forward for Taoiseach and nobody is battg an eyelid is wonrful and I thk ’s a great day for Ireland that we n do that, ” he add. Leo Varadkar, an openly gay Indian-orig polician, beme the Prime Mister of Ireland on Saturday. In 2017, when he beme the Irish Prime Mister for the first time, Varadkar created history by beg the first openly gay man to hold the office of Taoiseach.

IRISH PM LEO VARADKAR IS GAY, NSERVATIVE — AND OF INDIAN ORIG

What mak Varadkar's elevatn remarkable is that an openly gay polician has now occupied the top post of Ireland, a untry domated by stnch Catholic valu, not once, but twice.

Leo Varadkar uld not have been an openly gay polician India, leave alone prime Irish have elected a new Taoiseach, or Prime Mister, whose name is Leo Varadkar and whose father was an Indian immigrant. A parliamentary vote on June 14 nfirmed the 38-year-old, Ireland’s youngt PM and first openly gay lear. If we, as a natn, slap ourselv on our backs on the achievements of our gay immigrants, while crimalizg those back home, that hypocrisy needs to be talked about.

I’M GLAD A GAY MAN OF LOUR WILL BE IRISH PRIME MISTER, EVEN IF I ABHOR HIS POLICS

And the ease wh which the Indian media the phrase, “openly gay, ” needs to be talked about as well. Tth is, we nnot celebrate Varadkar’s polil succs whout also notg, the evable same breath, that he is Ireland’s first gay mister. The symbolic importance of this nnot be over-emphasised a untry where homosexuals and lbians have been ridiculed, bullied and killed for their sexual preferenc.

Priyam, a 28 year old gay person I spoke to, poted out that “majorarianism is creasgly fg standards for moraly India. Varadkar, himself, had this to say about his sexual orientatn, when he first me out as gay 2015: “It’s not somethg that f me. Robbie Lawlor, a Dubl based activist and former Mr Gay Ireland, workg on HIV awarens, put his fger on the button when he said, “All that symbolism is great, but wh great shame as his polil views are very nservative.

LIFE OF A GAY MIGRANT: RACISM EXISTS THE LGBT MUNY TOO

Varadkar’s stat as the son of an Indian immigrant should be far ls important – to India and the world – than the fact that he is agast women’s reproductive rights, has monstrated a track rerd of beg anti-workg class and even has rervatns agast gay people adoptg children.

LEO VARADKAR, THE INDIAN-ORIG GAY MAN POISED TO BE IRELAND’S PMIF ELECTED, LEO VARADKAR WOULD ALSO BEE THE YOUNGT IRISH PRIME MISTER SO FAR. RTERSUPDATED: 04 JUN 2017, 8:31 PM ISTWORLD4 M READSHARE THE QUT DAILY

Still, Varadkar’s ascensn to the top job polics is as much a vote favour of Ireland’s liberal crentials, which crimalized homosexualy 1993 and legalised same sex marriage 2015. Even if all hell fally breaks loose and Kaliyug shows s te lours, the possibily of an openly gay or lbian polician India is remote. Leo Varadkar, who is gay and half-Indian, has won the learship ntt of Ireland’s Fe Gael party, and, aged jt 38, is set to bee the republic’s youngt taoiseach.

Left-leang folk Ireland are hoarse tryg to expla to the faraways that, y, we unrstand the optics – but this is Ireland, land of the topsy-turvy, where the electn of a gay person of lour at the same time signals the entrenchment of anti-woman, anti-workg-class stery-as-ual. But I feel the followg simple observatn is necsary: we n celebrate the fact that Ireland’s next lear will be a gay man of lour, even while we prott his polics. The public atmosphere was such that the Fe Gael member of parliament Pl McGrath uld stand up the Dáil and crloly proclaim: “Are we now to see exhibns public by homosexuals?

IRELAND SET TO HAVE ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY PRIME MISTER, LEO VARADKAR

Ireland now has gay marriage (voted for, I am proud to say, by 62% of the populatn), some of the world’s most progrsive trans regnn legislatn, and an openly gay prumptive taoiseach. In arad terview he gave after g out, he said: “I’m not a half-Indian polician, or a doctor polician or a gay polician, for that matter.

“The racism and homophobia that exists stcturally wh the immigratn system has probably been the biggt negative experience for me.

“When I first me along, the club was mostly gay men, and they were really que fabulo at takg me unr their wg, bee there weren’t very many women nng wh the club at that time.

"THE PRIME MISTER AND HIS HBAND": GAY LEARS AROUND THE WORLD

”Diego Rodrigu Caixeta: ‘I’ve had two really homophobic experienc’Diego Caixeta, sexual health outreach worker, om Brazil. ”In 2012, he was offered a role at the Gay Men’s Health Service (GMHS) Baggot Street, where he works as a sexual health outreach worker.

”The GMHS is the only sexual health clic specifilly for the gay and transgenr muny the untry. “They wouldn’t go to their GP to talk about their sexual life bee they’re gay, and they feel sred, so they e to Dubl. Leo Varadkar beg Ireland’s first openly gay mister 22 years after the crimalisatn of homosexualy Ireland.

The Mister’s cisn to go public wh his sexualy jt over twenty years after the crimilisatn of homosexualy the Irish state.

‘WHEN YOU ARE A PERSON OF LOUR IRELAND PEOPLE DON’T SEE YOU AS GAY’

For most of Ireland’s history, s laws agast homosexualy dated om the Victorian era and were held over for more than 140 years. This movement was known as the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform and aimed at crimalisg homosexualy Ireland and Northern Ireland. In the urse of the movement, Dubl Universy Gay Society was set up – a group that is still nng today, albe unr a different moniker.

The first event was a one-day affair and aimed at highlightg the levels of vlence agast gay men and women. It me as a reactn to a lg on the ath of Declan Flynn – a 31-year-old gay man who had been killed Fairview Park.

In 1988, David Norris – who by then had bee a Senator – won a se the European Court agast the Irish State over the nstutnal stat of the crimalisatn of certa homosexual acts.

LEO VARADKAR TO BEE IRELAND'S YOUNGT, FIRST OPENLY GAY PRIME MISTER

Norris iated legal proceedgs to crimalise homosexualy 1977 – statg that such laws ntravened the Constutn’s stand on privacy. In June of 1993, Ireland passed Crimal Frd (Sexual Offenc) Bill which crimalised homosexualy. The Civil Partnership Act passed through the Dáil 2010 and gave gay upl more rights than they had prevly been afford.

On his cisn to e out the Health Mister stated that he felt was important for upg vot he would be volved – cludg whether laws on gay and bisexual men donatg blood should be lifted and the upg referendum on same-sex marriage. It’s not somethg that f me, I’m not a half-Indian polician or a doctor polician, I’m not a gay polician for that matter, ’s jt part of who I am. TODAY MARKS THE 25th anniversary of the crimalisatn of homosexualy the Republic of Ireland.