It’s a big deal when a top government official comes out as gay, but the announcement by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevics today had an extra little twist. He came out on Twitter:
The #ProudToBeGay hashtag the foreign minister used has been in wide circulation in many parts of the world since Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote he was “proud to be gay” in a Bloomberg Businessweek editorial last week. Cook’s announcement spurred a whirlwind of homophobia in Russia, even prompting the dismantling of a Steve Jobs memorial in St. Petersburg, for fear it might be considered a violation of the country’s law against homosexual propaganda.
But other former Soviet nations are clearly differentiating their politics from Russia’s increasingly anti-gay stance. Latvia’s neighbor Estonia became the first former Soviet nation to legalize same-sex marriage in early October.
Latvia will assume the role of president of the European Union in 2015, drawing much more attention to its position on human rights. The country has had a history of oppression of LGBT people, but some activists from Latvia told the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News in February that safety precautions for activists were improving in recent years.
Responses online to Rinkevics’ announcement have been mostly positive so far, expressing pride and solidarity.
Translation: “And good luck to you!”
