After working to secure equal marriage
rights in Luxembourg, the tiny country's openly gay prime minister,
Xavier Bettel, is preparing to marry his civil partner.
Bettel and Gauthier Destenay will
exchange vows on Friday, making Bettel the first active official in
the European Union to marry a person of the same sex, Reuters
reported.
“It won't be a flashy ceremony but
the symbolism's very strong,” a long-time friend told the
Luxemburger Wort about the ceremony.
Bettel, a former mayor of Luxembourg
City, predicted in 2013 – shortly before he became prime minister –
that the mostly Catholic nation would legalize such unions within a
year. Gay couples started exchanging vows in January.
Shortly after Luxembourg's parliament
approved a same-sex marriage bill last year, Bettel told The Los
Angeles Times that he had accepted Destenay's marriage proposal.
“I said 'yes.' I have just one life
and I don't want to hide my life,” he said.