Netherlands’ Prime Minister Rob Jetten says his first love gave him the courage to come out as gay (EXCLUSIVE)
"It gave me so much more courage to just be myself or become myself," Jetten told Attitude
By Aaron Sugg
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten has told Attitude that his first love at 17 gave him the “courage” to come out to his family as gay.
Speaking in his cover interview, Jetten, who made history as the first publicly gay leader of the Netherlands at 38, reflected on his formative years before meeting his now-fiancé Nicolás Keenan.
“When I was 15 or 16 and I knew 100 per cent that I was never going to fall in love with a girl again, I was stressing about how my family would react, people in school, in the village I grew up in, but way too afraid to talk about it with anyone,” he said.
He recalled thinking he might never marry, and certainly not a woman. “Things changed when I was 17 and fell in love for the first time,” Jetten said of the first time he experienced feelings towards another man.
Rob Jetten says his first love helped him come out
“That gave me the courage to start opening up and talk to others about it with some friends and some family members.” He continues, “Their reaction was so supportive that I got confused because I was expecting a lot of backlash, but that didn’t happen.”
Jetten described the romance as “a summer love that lasted for a few months”, adding: “It gave me so much more courage to just be myself or become myself.”
His “first crush” helped him “accept” his sexuality
“I really needed that first crush to get to the situation where I could actually accept it,” he continued.
Now 39, Jetten is a role model for LGBTQ+ people worldwide, representing one of the few publicly gay world leaders.
He shares the role with his fiancé, Keenan, an Argentine hockey player and the Netherlands’ first publicly bisexual First Gentleman.
Jetten is now engaged to Nicolás Keenan
Together, they have been dating since 2020, went public with their relationship in 2023 and got engaged in 2024. Their wedding plans are currently on hold as both take on their new roles.
Jetten also revealed in his Attitude cover interview that he hopes to start a family with Keenan someday.
Full interview appears in the September/October 2026 issue of Attitude, available on digital platforms from 6pm on Wednesday 26 August and in print from Thursday 27 August. Print copy available for pre-order here.