Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs Says He's Gay
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | November 07, 2014
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced Thursday that he's gay.
“I proudly announce I am gay … Good luck all of you,” Rinkevics messaged on Twitter.
In a tweet posted roughly an hour earlier, Rinkevics appeared to endorse civil unions for gay and lesbian couples.
“Our country has to create a legal status for all kinds of partner relationships, and I will fight for this,” the tweet said, according to a translation by The Washington Post. “I know that there will quickly be mega-hysteria, but #proudtobegay.”
Rinkevics' is now the highest-profile openly gay politician in Eastern Europe.
The announcement is certain to create tensions with neighboring Russia, which has mounted a crackdown against the LGBT community at home and abroad, outlawing “gay propaganda” to minors at home and prohibiting foreigners from marriage equality countries to adopt Russian-born children.