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

Prime Minister of Luxembourg The prime minister of Luxembourg (; ; ) is the head of government of Luxembourg. The prime minister leads the executive branch, chairs the Cabinet and appoints its ministers. Since 1989, the title of ''Prime Minister'' has been an official one, ...

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourgish lawyer and politician who serves as the List of deputy prime ministers of Luxembourg, deputy prime minister of Luxembourg and as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Luxembourg), minister for Fo ...

Personal life

Destenay is from Belgian

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

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 (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

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, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

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) is a Luxembourgish politician of the Democratic Party who has served as Mayor of Luxembourg City since 2013, having previously held the role from 1982 to 1999. She has served in a number of other capacities, ...

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 served as the prime minister of Belgium from 2011 to 2014, heading the Di Rupo Government, and as minister-president of Wallonia for three non-consecutive terms between 1999 and 20 ...

, 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 The Cercle Municipal or Cercle Cité is a building in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is located at the eastern end of the Place d'Armes (Luxembourg), Place d'Armes, in the historic central Ville Haute Quarters of Luxembourg City, qu ...

. 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 ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

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. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

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

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Destenay, Gauthier Living people Belgian architects Spouses of prime ministers of Luxembourg LGBTQ architects Belgian gay artists Luxembourgian gay men University of Liège alumni 1979 births