Gay Irish Prime Minister Delivered Pro-LGBTQ+ Speech to Mike Pence

Anyone who's watched Real Housewives knows that a breakfast is the perfect place to throw shade and start drama, and that's exactly what Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar did.

At a Thursday morning breakfast that Varadkar attended with his partner Matthew Barrett and that Vice President Mike Pence attended with his sister (Karen Pence was probably too busy working at an anti-LGBTQ+ school) the prime minister delivered a quick pro-LGBTQ+ speech right to Pence's face.

"I stand here, leader of my country, flawed and human, judged by my political actions, not by my sexual orienation, my skin tone, or religious beliefs," Varadkar said in the speech, captured by The Guardian. "And I don't believe that my country is the only one in the world where this is possible. It stands in every country where freedom and liberty are cherished. We are, after all, all God's children. And that's true of the United States, as well. The land and home of the brave of the free. Where the promise of America inspires boys and girls all over the world to dream big dreams. And inspires others around the world to do the same."

Varadkar is also the child of an immigrant. His father emigrated from India to Ireland, where Varadkar was born.

This isn't the first time Pence has had to sit and endure a plea for decency. Only a few days after the 2016 election, Mike Pence attended the Broadway show Hamilton and Brandon Victor Dixon, an actor in the show, addressed him directly once the curtain dropped. In his speech, Dixon asked Pence to "uphold our American values."

Pence has a long history of anti-LGBTQ+ stances, including passing legislation that allowed people to discriminate against queer people based on their religious beliefs. He also sparked an HIV epidemic in southeast Indiana by defunding Planned Parenthood, the sole HIV tester in the region, and advocated that money for HIV prevention go toward conversion therapy instead.

RELATED |