--- description: Edgars Rinkevics is due to play an important international role when Latvia takes over E.U. presidency title: Latvian Foreign Minister Announces He Is Gay on Twitter image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2187e27bcac443/698767a1e53abade914d5c7e/edgars-rinkevics.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Latvian Foreign Minister Announces He Is Gay on Twitter by [Conal Urquhart](/author/conal-urquhart/) ## Conal Urquhart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2014 12:09 PM CUT  Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics attends a press conference in Tehran, Iran on April 23, 2014. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics attends a press conference in Tehran, Iran on April 23, 2014.Fatemeh Bahrami—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Conal Urquhart](/author/conal-urquhart/) ## Conal Urquhart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 7, 2014 12:09 PM CUT The Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics has [announced](https://twitter.com/edgarsrinkevics/status/530450808132108288 "undefined") he is gay on Twitter. The minister of the Baltic state wrote: “I proudly announce I am gay…good luck to all of you.” Rinkevics made his declaration the day after being confirmed in his position as foreign minister. > [](https://twitter.com/edgarsrinkevics/status/530450808132108288) Latvia is a former part of the Soviet Union and socially conservative views remain popular. It is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not allow same sex marriage. Rinkēvičs’ announcement on Thursday evening comes before Latvia assumes the rotating presidency of the E.U. on Jan. 1, giving him an enhanced international profile for six months. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3571954/latvia-foreign-minister-gay-twitter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3571954/latvia-foreign-minister-gay-twitter/"},"headline":"Latvian Foreign Minister Announces He Is Gay on Twitter","datePublished":"2014-11-07T12:09:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:16.085Z","description":"Edgars Rinkevics is due to play an important international role when Latvia takes over E.U. presidency","url":"https://time.com/3571954/latvia-foreign-minister-gay-twitter/","keywords":["Living","Gay Rights","European Union","twitter","gay"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2187e27bcac443/698767a1e53abade914d5c7e/edgars-rinkevics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Conal Urquhart","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/conal-urquhart/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d2187e27bcac443/698767a1e53abade914d5c7e/edgars-rinkevics.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Mohammad Javad Zarif - Edgars Rinkevics","caption":"Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics attends a press conference in Tehran, Iran on April 23, 2014.","creditText":"Fatemeh Bahrami—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3571954/latvia-foreign-minister-gay-twitter/","name":"Latvian Foreign Minister Announces He Is Gay on Twitter"}}]}] ```