Latvia elects first openly gay president
The Latvian Parliament elected Edgars Rinkēvičs as the country’s next president in a vote held Wednesday. When he assumes office on July 8, he will be the country’s first openly gay head of state, as well as the first openly gay head of state of an EU country or a former Soviet country.
Latvia’s president is a largely ceremonial role that is elected by the national Parliament. He won a narrow majority of 52 out of 100 votes on the third ballot, held coincidentally during Pride week in the capital, Riga.
Rinkēvičs has served as Latvia’s foreign minister since 2011, a post where he became popular for championing European integration.
In 2014, he became the first Latvian political figure to come out publicly, while the country debated a same-sex civil union law.
