The Daily Populous Tuesday February 24th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by thepinknews.com and submitted by 2023behind_finally

Netherlands has appointed its first openly gay and youngest prime minister.

The new dutch government was sworn in on Monday (23 February), with Rob Jetten becoming the country’s youngest and first openly gay prime minister.

Jetten, who is the leader of the Democrats 66 (D66), won in the October elections last year, dethroning the far-right Freedom Party (PVV).

He succeeds Dick Schoof, whose government collapsed in the summer of 2025, leading to snap elections.

The 38-year-old centrist’s D66 has teamed up with the centre-right Christian Democratic Appeal CDA party and the liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) to form a coalition. However, they will fall nine seats short of a parliamentary majority with only 66 seats, meaning Jetten will depend on opposition support.

His campaign has been successful partly due to a surge in advertising that has pushed a message of “yes, we can”, enabling the party to focus on divisive issues such as immigration and the housing crisis.

As part of the party’s image transformation, Jetten challenged far-right leader Geert Wilders, hitting out at him for only standing up for LGBTQ+ rights in a bid to villainise Muslims.

In an Instagram post on Monday, Jetten wrote: “Proud to be able to do this together. In a new phase, with a great responsibility and above all a joint promise to work for everyone in the Netherlands.”

The post has been flooded with well wishes and green hearts.

Jetten’s fiancé, hockey player Nicolás Keenan, previously spoke to PinkNews about what a gay prime minister for the country could represent, as well as what it means to be by his side on a public platform.

Keenan said: “Dutch people are ready for a new energy, and he’s bringing a lot of energy, a lot of positive energy as well, so people are really looking forward to his cycle as a prime minister.”

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.

EvilFerby1 on February 23rd, 2026 at 19:57 UTC »

‘He succeeds Dick Schoof’

Excuse me

theawesomedanish on February 23rd, 2026 at 19:11 UTC »

Peter Thiel is gay too. Judge people by their ideals and actions, not their sexuality. Because gay people are just people. They can be decent, or they can be absolute shitheads, same as everyone else.

bograt on February 23rd, 2026 at 18:29 UTC »

Were there previously closeted gay prime ministers?