Nicolás Keenan Makes LGBTQ+ History at the Hockey World Cup -With His Fiancé, the Dutch Prime Minister, Cheering Him On

Argentine field hockey star Nicolás Keenan made LGBTQ+ history yesterday (16 August), becoming the first publicly bisexual male player to compete at the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup.

Keenan's Argentina opened their tournament with a 3–0 victory over Japan, and the celebrations delivered one of the images of the competition so far: Keenan embracing his fiancé, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who was spotted in the crowd wearing an Argentina top and sealing the moment with a kiss on his partner's cheek.

The couple's story is remarkable in its own right. Keenan, who came out publicly in 2023 after competing at his first Olympics in Tokyo, met Jetten in The Hague, where he has played for top-flight club HC Klein Zwitserland since 2017. In February this year, Jetten became the Netherlands' youngest and first publicly gay prime minister at 38, making the pair the first publicly LGBTQ+ Prime Minister and First Gentleman in Dutch history.

The 2026 World Cup, jointly hosted by Amstelveen in the Netherlands and Wavre in Belgium, holds extra significance for the couple: Argentina face Jetten's Netherlands in their second Pool A match tomorrow (18 August).

Keenan has spoken openly about how rare visibility remains in elite men's sport. Reflecting on his coming out, he described it as a significant moment in the hockey world, noting that while amateur hockey tends to be open and accepting, elite-level sport is a different environment. Fewer than a handful of active male players at the international level are publicly out.

Why it matters for the workplace: Elite sport remains one of the last frontiers of LGBTQ+ visibility for men - and the same dynamics play out in many workplaces, where senior and high-profile roles often lack out role models. Keenan's visibility on one of his sport's biggest stages, with his partner proudly in the stands, shows the power of bringing your whole self to your career. Employers can take note: visible role models at the top change what everyone below them believes is possible.