Graça Fonseca

Graça Maria da Fonseca Caetano Gonçalves (born 13 August 1971)^[6] is a Portuguese politician who served as Minister of Culture in the government of Prime Minister António Costa since 15 October 2018^[update].^[5][7] Fonseca graduated with a law degree from the University of Lisbon, has a master's degree in economics from the University of Coimbra, and obtained a PhD in sociology from ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon. From 26 November 2015 to 15 October 2018,^[8] Fonseca served as Secretary of State Assistant and of Administrative Modernisation.^[9]

Graça Fonseca
Fonseca in 2020
Minister of Culture
In office 15 October 2018 – 30 March 2022
Prime Minister	António Costa[1]
Preceded by	Luís Filipe Castro Mendes[1]
Succeeded by	Pedro Adão e Silva
Secretary of State Assistant and of Administrative Modernisation
In office 26 November 2015 – 15 October 2018
Prime Minister	António Costa[2]
Preceded by	Gonçalo Saraiva Matias[3]
Succeeded by	Luís Goes Pinheiro[4]
Personal details
Born	(1971-08-13) 13 August 1971 (age 53) Lisbon, Portugal[5]

When she came out publicly, in an interview to newspaper Diário de Notícias in 2017,^[10] she was the first gay member of a government cabinet ever to disclose their sexual orientation in Portugal.^[11] Since taking office as Minister of Culture in 2018, she is the first openly gay Portuguese government minister.^[12]

In July 2020, when asked by a reporter about the pressure cultural workers were facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of responding to the question, she said she had to leave for a late-afternoon drink, using an anglicism that some critics considered insensitive.^[13] Her response was widely panned by the Portuguese press.^[14][15][16]