Former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described opponents of transgender participation in sport as “authoritarians” during a bizarre appearance at an LGBT inclusion conference in Amsterdam.
Varadkar, who resigned months after vowing to change his 'very white' country, made the comments during a fireside chat at the 2026 Workplace Pride International Conference, where he was invited to discuss Ireland’s transformation on LGBT rights and the future of the movement. The former Fine Gael leader and longtime activist told the audience that he was a strong supporter of inclusion in sport before turning his attention to those who oppose the participation of transgender people. “I’m a strong believer, for example, of inclusion in sport, but there’s a reason why authoritarians are targeting this," Varadkar said.
The conference itself was heavily focused on the perceived threat from opponents of transgender rights. WorldPride’s programme included a session titled “LGBTQIA+ Heritage and Culture under Attack: Countering Gender Panic and Authoritarian Erasure”, which described anti-trans laws and policies as part of an “authoritarian playbook”.
Workplace Pride’s own account of the event said the conference brought together business leaders, activists, policymakers and LGBT community representatives, with Varadkar delivering the closing session. Varadkar, openly gay, has often prided himself on transforming Ireland from a “traditionally conservative and Catholic society” into a country that introduced marriage equality, transgender recognition and abortion. He received backlash after telling disgraced former RTE presenter Ryan Tubridy last year that those who opposed mass migration in Ireland would end up finding themselves "working a six-day week".
He also became embroiled in controversy in 2023 over the case of Barbie Kardashian, a biological male who identified as female and was sent to a women's prison after being convicted and imprisoned for threatening to torture, rape and kill his mother. Asked directly whether he considered Kardashian a man or a woman, Varadkar refused to answer and said he did not know enough about the case, as did his successor Simon Harris. Harris previously used a major Irish radio interview to verbally attack US President Donald Trump before endorsing his 2024 opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, in an Instagram post. President Trump is expected to pay a visit to Ireland next month.
