Ireland's first openly gay prime
minister, Leo Varadkar, resigned on Thursday.
According to the
BBC, Varadkar acted after his Fine Gael party lost 15 seats in
the general election held earlier this month.
After the Irish Parliament failed to
name his replacement, Varadkar submitted his resignation, though
he'll remain in the post in a caretaker role until a successor is
named.
Varadkar, 41, in 2017 became Ireland's
first openly gay prime minister, and the youngest. Two years earlier,
Varadkar, the son an immigrant Indian father and Irish mother, came
out gay as Ireland debated a nationwide referendum on whether to
extend marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples. Voters approved
the measure with an overwhelming (62%) majority.
(Related: Irish
PM Leo Varadkar to raise same-sex marriage with Pope.)
Varadkar's exit leaves Luxembourg Prime
Minister Xavier Bettel, the
first European Union leader to marry a person of the same sex while
in office, as the only openly gay head of state. Belgium and
Iceland have previously been helmed by a gay leader.
(Related: In
UN speech, Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel says homophobia is a choice.)