LUXEMBOURG'S prime minister Xavier Bettel has become the first European Union (EU) head of government to marry a gay partner when he tied the knot with his male lover Gauthier Destenay yesterday. 

Mr Bettel, 42, a centre-right politician who became premier in 2013, has taken advantage of the fact that the Roman Catholic duchy recently legalised gay weddings. His partner, Mr Destenay, is a Belgian architect and yesterday, they held hands as they arrived for the low-key ceremony at the Luxembourg town hall, where around 100 well-wishers applauded them. 

As well as being the first leader in the 28-nation EU to wed a gay partner, Mr Bettel is only the second in the world after Iceland's Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir to have a gay marriage. Ms Sigurdardottir married her writer partner in 2010 but Iceland is not part of the EU. 

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, who was among the guests, said he had come for a mate's wedding, adding that it was a big moment for his counterpart from the neighbouring country. Luxembourg's parliament approved same-sex marriage in June 2014 and the first weddings took place on January 1, 2015, making it the latest in a growing number of European countries to embrace the trend. 

Stephane Bern, a journalist and friend of the couple, said: "Luxembourg is giving the image of a country that is advanced on social issues. That is a message sent at a time when homophobia is on the rise in Europe."  

After the ceremony, the crowd threw rice and confetti over the couple to which Mr Bettel said he was pleased and had not wanted to hide his sexuality. His wedding comes the week before staunchly Catholic Ireland holds a referendum on whether to allow same-sex marriage. Mr Bettel said he had not wanted to hide his sexuality. 

Prime Minister Bettel said: "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 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." 

Last August, Mr Bettel had announced that he would marry Mr Destenay with whom he has been in a civil union since 2010. Now that they have been married, the ceremony will be followed by weekend-long private celebrations for around 500 guests. 

They have postponed their honeymoon because of Mr Bettel's busy political schedule which includes Luxembourg taking over the rotating presidency of the EU on July 1. Prime Minister Bettel is also campaigning to win a June 7 referendum on a series of reforms, including limiting the premier's term to 10 years and cutting the voting age to 16.