Rob Jetten Just Became the Netherlands’ First Gay PM And He Did It With His Olympic Fiancé By His Side
On 23 February 2026, Rob Jetten was sworn in as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, making history as both the country’s first openly gay leader and its youngest, at 38. Dutch King Willem-Alexander officiated the ceremony at Huis Ten Bosch in The Hague, with Jetten’s fiancé, Argentine field hockey player Nicolás Keenan, watching on.
The moment was a long time coming. Jetten leads Democrats 66 (D66), a centrist social-liberal party that pulled off a surprise win in the October 2025 snap election, narrowly defeating Geert Wilders’ far-right Freedom Party (PVV). His minority coalition, formed with the centre-right CDA and the liberal VVD, holds 66 of 150 parliamentary seats. It took 117 days to put together.
Who is Nicolas Keenan?
Keenan, 28, is an Argentine professional field hockey player who competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The two met in 2022 and announced their engagement in November 2024. Keenan marked the occasion on Instagram with the caption: “Soon we will be Mr. & Mr.” They are planning to wed in Spain later this year.
When Jetten secured his election win, he made a point of publicly acknowledging his partner. “Dear Nico, thank you for your unconditional support,” he wrote. “I can’t do it without you.”
Keenan has been candid about what this moment means beyond the personal. Speaking to PinkNews before the swearing-in, he 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.”
What it means beyond the Netherlands
He is now one of only two openly gay heads of government in the world, alongside Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora, who came out in 2023. The timing carries extra weight: the Netherlands was the first country to legalise same-sex marriage, which it did in 2001.
Dutch LGBTQIA+ advocacy group COC Nederland put it simply in a statement: “Becoming prime minister shows that your sexual orientation doesn’t have to matter. You can become a construction worker, a doctor, a lawyer, and even prime minister.”
What’s on the agenda
Jetten’s government has committed to increasing military spending to meet NATO targets, tightening asylum and immigration policy, and cutting social spending, including reductions to healthcare and unemployment benefits. His coalition is a minority government, so passing legislation will require ongoing support from outside the coalition.
On the day of his swearing-in, Jetten posted on X: “Sworn in. We’re going to begin. Let’s get to work.”
