Europe
Andorran prime minister comes out as gay
Xavier Espot Zamora spoke with country’s public broadcaster

Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora has come out as gay.
“I’m gay. I’ve never hid it,” he said during an interview with Radio and Television of Andorra, the country’s public broadcaster, on Monday. “Now, if I’m not asked I don’t have to say it, in the sense that it doesn’t define the entirety of who I am and even less my personal politics, but at the same time I think it shouldn’t be a problem to express it. And if this helps many children, young people or teenagers who are going through a difficult time see that in the end, regardless of their condition or sexual orientation, you can prosper in this country and reach the highest magistracy, then I am happy to express it.”
Andorra is a small country known for its ski areas that is nestled between Spain and France in the Pyrenees.
Espot has been prime minister since 2019. The country’s lawmakers in 2022 extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.
The prime minister is one of a handful of heads of state and government who are openly gay or lesbian.
Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs took office in July.
Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has been in office since 2013, while Ana Brnabić became Serbia’s prime minister in 2017. Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is openly gay.
Deputy Belgian Prime Minister Petra De Sutter is a transgender woman.
Then-Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir in 2009 became the world’s first openly LGBTQ head of government.
United Kingdom
Four UK Pride organizations ban political parties from events
Statement notes Supreme Court ruling that excludes trans women from legal definition of woman

The organizers of four of the largest Prides in the U.K. have banned political parties from their events.
A statement that Pride in London, Manchester Pride, Birmingham Pride, and Brighton Pride issued on Thursday specifically notes last month’s U.K. Supreme Court ruling that said the legal definition of a woman is limited to “biological women” and does not include transgender women.
“The recent ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court to exclude trans women from the definition of the term ‘woman’ underscores the urgent need for immediate action,” reads the statement. “In this moment, we choose to stand firmer, louder, and prouder in demanding change that protects and uplifts trans lives.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after the ruling said “a woman is a biological woman” under the country’s 2010 Equality Act that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Pride organizations in their statement did not specifically reference Starmer and his comments. They did, however, announce they are “collectively suspending political party participation in our Pride events.”
“Know that this is not a symbolic gesture,” reads the statement. “It is a direct call for accountability and a refusal to platform those who have not protected our rights.”
The groups also made the following demands:
• Full and enforceable protections under the Equality Act
• Timely and dignified access to NHS (National Health Service) gender-affirming healthcare
• A reformed, accessible Gender Recognition Certificate process
• Sustainable funding for trans-led services and support organizations across the U.K.
“This is the minimum,” said the groups. “Anything less is not allyship, it is abandonment.”
“Our main parties have let us down and need to re-earn their place in our marches,” said Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is the director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in a newsletter that his organization publishes. “Pride is a protest.”
European Union
EU countries ‘alarmed’ over Hungary’s worsening anti-LGBTQ crackdown
Budapest authorities have banned June 1 march

The governments of 20 European Union countries on Tuesday said they are “alarmed” over Hungary’s worsening anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs last month amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
The Hungarian Helsinki Committee on Tuesday said police in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, have banned an LGBTQ rights march that was scheduled to have taken place on June 1. The Budapest-based human rights NGO in a press release said authorities cited the law that bans Pride events and other demonstrations “displaying homosexuality.”
Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on June 28. The Hungarian Helsinki Committee and other groups, including the Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBTQ rights organization, said they will challenge the ban.
“We are deeply concerned by recent legislative and constitutional amendments infringing on the fundamental rights of LGBTIQ+ persons which were adopted by the Hungarian parliament on March 18 and April 14, 2025, following other anti-LGBTIQ+ legislation already introduced in previous years,” reads a declaration that the Austrian, Belgian, Cypriot, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Maltese, Dutch, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish, and Swedish governments issued.
“Under the pretext of child protection, these legislative amendments allow fines to be imposed on participants and organizers of events, such as the annual Pride celebrations,” it adds. “The amendments also allow for facial recognition software to be used at such events, and for banning such events. We are concerned by the implications of these measures on freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly, and the right to privacy.”
The governments stress they are “highly alarmed by these developments which run contrary to the fundamental values of human dignity, freedom, equality and respect for human rights, as laid down in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union.”
“Respecting and protecting the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people, including LGBTIQ+ persons, is inherent in being part of the European family. This is our responsibility and shared commitment of the member states and the European institutions,” says the declaration.
“We therefore call upon Hungary to revise these measures, to ensure the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens are respected and protected, thus complying with its international obligations,” it adds.
The Vatican
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
American-born pontiff met with Vatican diplomats on May 15

Pope Leo XIV on May 15 reaffirmed Vatican doctrine that says marriage is between a man and a woman.
The Associated Press reported Leo told Vatican diplomats the family is created upon the “stable union between a man and a woman.” Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and dozens of other world leaders on Sunday attended the American-born pontiff’s installation Mass that took place in St. Peter’s Square.
The College of Cardinals earlier this month elected Leo to succeed Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Francis, who was from Argentina, was a vocal opponent of the country’s marriage equality law that took effect in 2010. He was the archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Argentine capital, when then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed it.
Francis in 2020 publicly backed civil unions for gays and lesbians. Francis in 2023 said priests can bless same-sex couples.