THIS EVENING IRELAND finally found out for sure what it had pretty much known for the past two weeks, Leo Varadkar is the new leader of Fine Gael.
But while the news of Varadkar’s ascension to the top of the government party may not be much of a surprise here, it’s causing waves internationally.
As is to be expected, the international press isn’t much interested in Varadkar or Fine Gael’s politics, but his ethnic background and sexuality are creating headlines.
Varadkar first spoke publicly about being gay in a radio interview in January 2015.
His candour and the world’s curiosity about supposedly conservative Ireland caused headlines back then as well, but now that he’s almost certain to be Taoiseach the world is paying attention again.
Here’s what was said.
Ireland is on course to have its first openly gay Prime Minister.
https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/10154898651976939/
Ireland’s governing Fine Gael party has elected Leo Varadkar, the gay son of an Indian immigrant, as its new leader and the country’s likely next prime minister.
Varadkar will become the youngest person to become prime minister, and the first openly gay leader in the country’s history.
Gay Lawmaker, Leo Varadkar, Is in Line to Be Ireland’s Prime Minister
The country, which was once known for its strong Catholic values, has made a lot of progress on LGBT rights in the past few years.
Varadkar was born in Dublin in 1979, the son of an Indian doctor and an Irish nurse. He came out publicly as gay in the run-up to a 2015 referendum that legalised same-sex marriage in Ireland.
The former GP is the son of an Irish nurse and a doctor from India and much of the media coverage of his victory has focused on Mr Varadkar’s background, age and sexuality.
Ireland’s governing Fine Gael party elected Leo Varadkar as its new leader on Friday, choosing the gay, 38-year-old son of an Indian immigrant to succeed Enda Kenny as prime minister in a striking sign of the country’s rapid social change.
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