Gauthier Destenay White House NATO Spouse Photo Caption

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In what looked like a pretty standard shot of NATO leaders' spouses at the Royal Castle of Laeken in Brussels, first lady Melania Trump stands alongside heavy hitters like Queen Mathilde of Belgium; the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron; and first lady Emine Erdoğan of Turkey. Another day, another political photo op, right? Well, the internet's quick fingers and even quicker wits pointed out that the White House's caption (Andrea Hanks, the official White House photographer, took the photo) omitted one of the people photographed: the first gentleman of Luxembourg, Gauthier Destenay.

The Daily Beast reports that "Destenay, an architect, married Prime Minister Xavier Bettel two years ago," which makes him the very first EU head to marry someone of the same sex. In fact, during the same photo call, photos of Destenay rubbing shoulders with the other NATO spouses went viral, so he's become something of an internet sensation — which probably led to the ire over the White House's caption.

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Wait...why did the White House not include First Gentleman of Luxemborg Gauthier Destenay in this photo caption? https://t.co/d1ldUwEXmc pic.twitter.com/0WDltuDoGr
— Chris Riotta (@chrisriotta) May 27, 2017

This pisses me off more than I can describe in 140 characters. His name is Gauthier Destenay - and he should have been included. https://t.co/sUw8v1hKxH
— Greg Hogben (@MyDaughtersArmy) May 27, 2017

Please RT to remind @POTUS and @VP that Luxembourg PM @Xavier_Bettel has a spouse. His name is #GauthierDestenay https://t.co/gR6iprXgVY
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) May 28, 2017

Other people on Twitter decided to celebrate the inclusion of Destenay instead, noting that the photo was a symbol of acceptance and equality.

Fantastic to see Gauthier Destenay, husband of @Xavier_Bettel & First Gentleman of Luxembourg, joining the NATO WAGs #loveislove #LGBT ?️‍? pic.twitter.com/T1R5qw6woQ
— Stephen (@stejs9) May 26, 2017

This picture is just everything. Simple statement of equality #pride #lgbt #Luxembourg #gauthierdestenay
(AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images) pic.twitter.com/tiByhWPeEi
— Alan Palmer (@PalmerAlan) May 26, 2017

Thank you @Xavier_Bettel for make history and support your husband #GauthierDestenay #FirstGentleman pic.twitter.com/sCHvpbSGds
— Richard L'acev (@RichLacev) May 26, 2017

Incidentally, the name "Gauthier Destenay" sounds like the hero of a romance novel. And he's sort of hot.
— Zell Oakley (@ZellTietj) May 25, 2017

BuzzFeed notes that nine hours after the photo went live, the White House added Destenay's name, though it didn't directly identify him with any position: the edited caption simply added "Luxembourg's Gauthier Destenay." (However, the caption also omits official titles for Slovenia and Bulgaria, as well). The Mirror and the Guardian are going as far as calling this a case of homophobia in the White House, thought it's difficult to say whether or not its just a case of lazy writing on the part of the White House's social media team.

While the internet ships Destenay and Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, know that they're not actually the very first same-sex couple at politics' highest levels. In 2010, the Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Siguroardottir (who also happened to be Iceland's very first female prime minister) became the world leader with a same-sex partner.

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