Gauthier Christian Destenay (born 21 September 1979) is a Belgian architect who is the husband of

Prime Minister of Luxembourg german: Premierminister von Luxemburg , insignia = Lesser CoA luxembourg.svg , insigniasize = 100px , insigniacaption = Lesser coat of arms of Luxembourg , insigniaalt = , flag ...

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourger lawyer and politician serving as Prime Minister of Luxembourg since 2013. He was previously a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1999–2013) and Mayor of Luxembourg City (2011–2013). Be ...

Personal life

Destenay is from Belgian

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and has been working as an associate architect at Belgian-Luxembourg firm A3 Architecture since 2013. He graduated with a degree in architecture from the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

in 2003. Bettel came out publicly as gay in 2008. Destenay has been in a

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with Bettel since 2010 and appeared along with Bettel at many official events, including the

Wedding of Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy The wedding of Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy took place on 19 and 20 October 2012. A civil ceremony was held on 19 October followed by a Roman Catholic wedding ceremony at Notre-Dame Cathedral ...

. Destenay asked for Bettel's hand in marriage in August 2014. They were married on 15 May 2015 in a private ceremony officiated by Luxembourg city mayor

Lydie Polfer Lydie Polfer (born 22 November 1952, in Luxembourg City) is a Luxembourgish politician who has served in a number of capacities, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mayor of Luxembourg City, as well as a Member of ...

in the presence of around 250 guests. Bettel became the first European Union head of government to marry a same-sex partner. The wedding was also attended by

Elio Di Rupo Elio Di Rupo (; born 18 July 1951) is a Belgian politician who has served as the minister-president of Wallonia since 2019. He is affiliated with the Socialist Party. Di Rupo previously served as the prime minister of Belgium from 6 December 201 ...

, the former Belgian Prime Minister who was the European Union's first openly gay head of government. The ceremony was followed by a reception for 500 guests at the Cercle-Cité. Destenay gained attention on social media when he appeared as the only male spouse in a group portrait of world leaders' spouses and partners at the 2017

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

summit. Destenay's name was omitted from the caption of a Facebook photo posted by the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, even though all the other spouses were correctly labeled. The post was subsequently edited after it led to criticism and accusations of homophobia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Destenay, Gauthier Living people Belgian architects Spouses of prime ministers of Luxembourg Husbands of national leaders LGBT architects Belgian LGBT people Luxembourgian LGBT people University of Liège alumni 1979 births