Ana Brnabić becomes Serbia’s first openly gay acting president

Ana Brnabić has become Serbia’s first openly gay acting president, taking over presidential duties on 28 September 2026. The former prime minister assumed the temporary role after Aleksandar Vučić resigned the previous evening.

Brnabić, who is openly lesbian, was serving as speaker of Serbia’s National Assembly when the presidency became vacant. Under the country’s succession arrangements, the parliamentary speaker takes over presidential duties until a new president is elected.

The handover puts an openly LGBTQ+ politician in the role of Serbia’s head of state for the first time. However, Brnabić has not been elected to a presidential term, and the acting position carries a strict time limit.

Serbian law allows the parliamentary speaker to perform presidential duties for no more than three months. A presidential election must also take place within three months of the previous president’s term ending.

Brnabić is already a familiar figure in Serbian politics, having spent almost seven years leading the government. In June 2017, she became Serbia’s first woman and first openly gay prime minister, bringing international attention to LGBTQ+ representation in the country.

She served as prime minister across three successive governments before leaving the role in 2024. On 20 March that year, she was elected speaker of the National Assembly, the position that has now placed her in the presidential line of succession.

Her move into the acting presidency marks another milestone for lesbian visibility in public life. It also comes while significant questions about LGBTQ+ legal equality in Serbia remain unresolved.

Reforms covering recognition of same-sex partnerships and legal gender recognition were still stalled in the country’s 2026 European equality assessment. Brnabić’s assumption of presidential duties does not itself change those laws or introduce new protections for LGBTQ+ people.