Q&A: Ireland's Varadkar says EU should do more on LGBTQ+ rights

BRUSSELS - Former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the country's first openly gay leader, says the day Ireland voted in favour of same-sex marriage was one of his proudest in politics.

He came out as gay just months before the May 22, 2015 referendum, while serving as health minister, and said a 'cast of thousands' had played a part in the historic result.

"Politics is full of disappointments, and it was one of those days when everything was kind of coming together and everything seemed possible again," he said.

Now he sees progress on LGBTQ+ rights stalling across Europe as Russia and other entities use the issue to divide democracies. He believes the European Union should do more.

Varadkar was prime minister from 2017-2020 and again from 2022-2024 before unexpectedly quitting politics and now is a senior fellow at Harvard University's Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights. He sat down with Context during a visit to Brussels to discuss LGBTQ+ rights in Europe.

Ireland marked 10 years of marriage equality this year. Do you think marriage equality can be threatened, as it is in the United States?

One thing I'm glad about in Ireland is that we have made these decisions with democratic consent, not by judges. I think that's better, and it would be very hard to overturn the progress we've made in Ireland, precisely because you would need either to go back to the people or in some cases have very big parliamentary majorities.

Even so, there is a growing backlash to LGBTQ+ rights in many European countries. What has changed?

I think we were fortunate that when we made the change it was at a time when there was a liberal wind blowing throughout the world. But after the revolution comes the counter-revolution; it always happens.

One thing that is different is interference from external actors. Russia and others have seen boat migration and LGBT issues as things they can use to divide democratic societies and also potentially regain influence in their previous sphere of influence in central and eastern Europe, and I'm not sure European governments are doing enough about that.

When it comes to growing anti-LGBTQ+ policies, you had a seat at the table at EU summits. Do you feel you could have done more, particularly when it comes to Hungary?

I think we didn't talk about it enough, and certainly in my first term my priority was Brexit, and in my second term Ukraine really dominated everything and that limited my ability to take on some of the issues that were happening in Hungary.

The Pride ban came after I left office and came as a big shock. It's not something I expected to happen in a European capital; it's something you expect to happen in Moscow or Ankara.

It does undermine the very values at the heart of the EU, that it would be possible to limit freedom of assembly, freedom of expression for anyone, not just for gay people.

We're now seeing other countries following Hungary with anti-LGBTQ+ policies, like Bulgaria and Slovakia. So what kind of progress on LGBTQ+ rights would you like to see in the EU?

I'd like to see an end to the backsliding on these basic human rights around free speech, free expression, free assembly and LGBT equality. And I'd love to see some progress in some big countries. You know, we've seen marriage equality happen in Greece, which I think was a hugely significant, very brave decision by the prime minister. The first Orthodox country to do it.

I think there's potential (for change) in Italy and Poland, maybe even Hungary if there's a change in government.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

(Reporting by Joanna Gill. Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst.)