The White House has been accused of homophobia after posting a photo of the spouses of NATO leaders in Brussels on its official Facebook page.
The photo's caption listed the names of the women pictured in the image—including Melania Trump and Queen Mathilde of Belgium—but failed to acknowledge the presence of Gauthier Destenay, the husband of Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel.
The original post read:
The caption prompted Facebook users to question why there was no mention of Destenay.
GLAAD wrote under the photo: “What about Luxembourg’s openly gay First Husband?”
One person wrote: “Wow. No mention of the Luxembourg spouse? He still exists even if you try to ignore the fact he is a homosexual.”
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."
One Facebook user wrote: “What an ignorance and disrespectful message toward Luxembourg. The First Gentleman of Luxembourg is IN THIS PICTURE and you choose to ignore him obviously?”
Aside from the White House Facebook blunder, the historic photo has attracted praise from the internet with the inclusion of Destenay seen as a huge step forward for equality.
The White House Facebook changed the caption to include Destenay—nine hours after the original post was uploaded—but offered no apology or explanation as to why he was omitted in the first place.
