Openly Gay Luxembourg PM Delivers Pro-LGBT+ Rights Speech to Arab Leaders

Luxembourg’s first openly gay Prime Minster, Xavier Bettel, shocked Arab leaders at a summit by pointing out that he would be executed in some of their countries for being gay, reports RTL Today.

Speaking at the EU-Arab League summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Bettel reportedly brought the room to a silence when he reminded leaders that that he is married to a man and that their countries still enforce shockingly homophobic laws.

German journalist Stefan Leifertreported that Bettel’s speech was met with “icy silence by some, quiet joy by others.”

Bettel retweeted Leifert’s post with the comment: “Saying nothing was not an option for me.” 

Some of the countries at the summit where gay sex can be punished with death include: Qatar, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.While homosexuality is still illegal in Algeria, Comoros, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.