Following the legalization of gay marriage in Luxembourg, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel married his partner, Gauthier Destenay, an architect, in a small ceremony over the weekend.
The couple arrived at a "late afternoon civil service," in the capital city's town hall, and then popped out to the crowd to express their elation and thanks. At least 250 people, including the press, were gathered outside the town hall to congratulate them, according to Luxemburger Wort.
The same-sex ceremony was officiated by Lydie Polfer, the mayor of the city, who has known Bettel since he was 9 years old.
"I wouldn't have thought that 33 years later I would officiate his wedding and that to as lovely a man as Gauthier," the mayor said.
The newly-married couple have been civil partners since 2010, and have been one of the first few gay couples to seek marriage immediately when the country enforced same-sex marriage laws on January 1, 2015, according to the Independent. But back in August 2014, Bettel already announced that he was intending to marry his partner after he proposed, according to Aljazeera.
"I could have hidden it or repressed it and been unhappy my whole life. I could have had relations with someone of the other sex while having homosexual relations in secret," Bettel said during an interview on public television after his wedding.
"But I told myself that if you want to be a politician, be honest in politics, you have to be honest with yourself and to accept that you are who you are."
Prime Minister Charles Michel from Belgium was one of the couple's special guests, as he is a close personal friend of both Bettel and Destenay. The latter is actually from Belgium, as well.
Sources said that a private celebration followed the ceremony this weekend, with an estimated 500 guests.
