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White House accused of homophobia after Luxembourg PM’s husband omitted from photo caption

The White House did not name Gauthier Destenay in the photo of the world leaders' spouses.  - REUTERS
The White House did not name Gauthier Destenay in the photo of the world leaders' spouses. - REUTERS

The White House has come under fire for a sexist Facebook post which named every spouse of the world leaders, except the First Gentleman of Luxembourg.

Gauthier Destenay, husband of Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel was the only partner not to be named in the photo of the spouses, taken at the Royal Castle of Laeken in Brussels.

Many have interpreted the post as a snub against Mr Bettel and Mr Destenay - Europe’s first openly gay political couple.

Luxembourg's prime minister, Xavier Bettel, and his husband, Gauthier Destenay, were married in December 2013.  - Credit: EPA
Luxembourg's prime minister, Xavier Bettel, and his husband, Gauthier Destenay, were married in December 2013. Credit: EPA

The nine women featured included Melania Trump, the first lady of the United States , Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte Trogneux, the first lady of France, and Emine Erdogan, the first lady of Turkey and wife of the Turkish president.

The post has since been edited on Facebook following widespread criticism and accusations of homophobia.

LGBT activist Greg Hogben wrote on Twitter: “This pisses me off more than I can describe in 140 characters. His name is Gauthier Destenay - and he should have been included.”

Social media users took to the comments section on the post to express their outrage that Mr Destenay was not included.

One user wrote: “The omission of the First Gentleman of Luxembourg name is blatantly disrespectful and just goes to show the level of idiotacy [sic] of this White House staff.”

Another said: “There is a great omission here in the caption. Please correct the caption.

“His name is Gauthier Destenay, he’s an architect, and he’s the First Gentleman of Luxembourg. He is also the husband of the world’s only openly gay prime minister, Xavier Bettel.”

The controversially captioned picture is one of several photos scrutinised after President Trump’s first overseas trip.

A photo from Donald Trump's visit to the Pope at the Vatican was widely criticised.  - Credit: Reuters
A photo from Donald Trump's visit to the Pope at the Vatican was widely criticised. Credit: Reuters

He was accused of hypocrisy when he and his wife Melania arrived in Saudi Arabia and Mrs Trump was pictured without a head covering.

Mr Trump had previously commented that Michelle Obama had “insulted” the Saudi royals by refusing to wear a headscarf.

A photo of Mr Trump’s visit to the Pope, accompanied by Melania and daughter Ivanka, also attracted negative comments after some likened their choice to wear black veils to the Sopranos or Addams Family.

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