Category Archives: MISC

Latvian Foreign Minister Comes Out In A Tweet: 'I Proudly Announce I Am Gay'

Latvian Foreign Minister Comes Out In A Tweet: 'I Proudly Announce I Am Gay'
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs apparently came out of the closet in a single, sunny tweet on Thursday.

I proudly announce I’am gay… Good luck all of you…

— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) November 6, 2014

His announcement — which is particularly astonishing given Eastern Europe’s conservative, and largely anti-gay, political environment — has made Rinkēvičs “the highest-profile gay man” in the region, noted Mediaite.

A constitutional ban on same-sex marriage has been in effect since 2005 in Latvia, where anti-gay sentiment is rife. Similar bans exist in other countries in the region, including Lithuania and Belarus. Russia, with whom Latvia shares a border, has long been unapologetic about its virulently anti-gay stance.

Rinkēvičs, who has served as Latvia’s foreign minister since 2011, said in an earlier tweet Thursday that his country “has to create a legal status for all kinds of partner relationships.”

“I will fight for this,” he wrote, according to a Washington Post translation. “I know that there will quickly be mega-hysteria, but #Proudtobegay.”

The Post reported that a spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of Rinkēvičs’ announcement. On Friday morning local time, the minister tweeted a message of gratitude, thanking people for their support.

As Buzzfeed notes, the minister’s words could “cause a furor” within Latvia and with its neighbors. Rinkēvičs’ announcement came just a day after his position as foreign minister was confirmed as part of Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma’s newly-formed government. Straujuma’s three-party coalition, which clinched 58 percent of the vote at last month’s general election, took the helm Wednesday, per the Wall Street Journal.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/latvia-minister-gay-tweet-edgars-rinkevics_n_6119066.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Jonathan Groff’s Love Triangle Continues, Clay Aiken Gets A TV Series, Ben Whishaw Knows Everyone Knew He Was Gay

Jonathan Groff’s Love Triangle Continues, Clay Aiken Gets A TV Series, Ben Whishaw Knows Everyone Knew He Was Gay

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Dreamy British actor Ben Whishaw, who might be starring as Freddie Mercury in an upcoming biopic, is very happy he came out. He recently told Marie Claire mag that “It was never a secret, everyone around me in my life knew” and now he just wants to get on with life.

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The first season of Looking ended with our protagonist Patrick (Jonathan Groff) involved in a torrid, can’t lose triangle with Kevin (Russell Tovey, above with Goff) and Richie (Raul Castillo). We’ll learn which he chose when the series returns January 11.

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American Idol also-ran Clay Aiken may have the election earlier this week, but he’s won a deal for a reality series with Esquire TV, which will chronicle his failed bid to become a North Carolina Congressman.

If you can’t get a ticket to Interstellar this weekend go see the gay-themed Brazilian drama The Way He Looks, which opens in select theaters Friday.

2nd Annual Broadway Sings For Pride Gay Pride Concert

The honors continue to pour in for Laverne Cox. The OITNB star has deservedly been named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year.

Carey NoKey is pursuing the “American Dream” and he’s making it come true so far. The singer will open for RuPaul’s Drag Race Tour next year.

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November may have spawned a monster, but it also spawned the promising-sounding Teatro Moz, the world’s first Morrissey Theater festival that takes place in L.A. November 13.

Jeremy Kinser

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