Torben Lund (born 6 November 1950 in

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

politician, who served in the

Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...

from 1981 to 1998"Torben Lund har forladt Socialdemokratiet". dr.dk, August 22, 2009. and in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

from 1999 to 2004. He was associated with the

Danish Social Democrats The Social Democrats ( da, Socialdemokraterne, ) is a social democratic political party in Denmark. A member of the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Social Democrats have 50 out of 179 members of the Danish parliament (following the late ...

in Denmark, and the

Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) is the political group in the European Parliament of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats was officially founded as a Socialist ...

in the European Parliament. While sitting in the Folketing, he was one of the sponsors of the 1989 legislation that first legalized

registered partnership 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 ...

for same-sex couples. He served as

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

in the

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen I Cabinet When the conservative Prime Minister Poul Schlüter resigned on the 15 January 1993 because of the Tamil Case, the leader of the Social Democrats Poul Nyrup Rasmussen formed his first cabinet on the 25 January 1993. The cabinet consisted of the Soc ...

from 1993 to 1994. He came out as

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

in 1998, becoming Denmark's first openly gay member of the Folketing. In 1999, he married his partner Claus Lautrup. After his retirement from politics, he joined the Danish television network Dk4."Torben Lund bliver tv-redaktør"
''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been independe ...

'', January 21, 2004. He remained active in the Social Democrats, but left the party in 2009 due to disagreements with the leadership of

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...

References

1950 births Living people Members of the Folketing MEPs for Denmark 1999–2004 Danish LGBT politicians Danish LGBT broadcasters LGBT MEPs for Denmark Gay politicians People from Vejle Municipality Social Democrats (Denmark) politicians Danish Health Ministers {{Denmark-MEP-stub