On Thursday, world leaders met in Brussels for the NATO Summit. While I’m sure they talked about the issues facing the world, like war, political instability, and global warming, that’s not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is this picture right here:

Shown above is an image of present partners of world leaders, previously known endearingly as the Wives of World Leaders. That smiling man in the second row changed things though.

His name is Gauthier Destenay, and he’s the new first gentleman of Luxemborg. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel and Destenay were married in 2015 when marriage equality was passed across the entire country. They were in a civil partnership in 2013 when Bettel first became Prime Minister.

So, why is this important? While marriage equality has been a reality in America, and Luxembourg, and in at least part of 22 other countries in the world, it isn’t everywhere. And being out and open about your sexuality still isn’t accepted in many places, school, and families in the United States.

Destenay appearing in this picture shows that there is hope, not just within progressive countries, but on a global scale. An image was formerly strictly women has been redefined. An international organization recognized the completely legal union of these two men in stride, which could, in turn, mean a step in the right direction towards accepting marriage equality and sexualities other than heterosexuality across the globe.

Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, or maybe we’re still decades or even centuries away from that becoming a reality. But what really matters is that it’s happening now. Progress is being made right now, in real time. Especially in our current political climate, it’s easy to be discouraged and feel like the LGBT+ community is being pushed back. But outside of America, progress is being made. Gauthier Destenay's face in that picture proves it.

I, for one, am very excited to see more pictures like that in my lifetime.