European Union's first openly gay head of state sworn in
The European Union's first openly gay head of state has been sworn in in Latvia.
Edgars Rinkevics served as foreign minister from 2011 and was sworn in as president on Saturday after his election in May. Mr Rinkevics came out publicly in 2014, posting on Twitter:"I proudly announce I am gay… Good luck all of you."Same-sex marriage is not legal inLatvia's presidency is largely a ceremonial post and the head of state acts mainly as an opinion leader and uniting figure in the country.
The president's responsibilities include representing Latvia abroad, acting as the supreme commander of the armed forces, signing bills into law, and nominating the prime minister.has had openly gay people elected as heads of government before - including Ireland's Leo Varadkar - but never a gay head of state.
Many countries have two people performing the roles of head of state and head of government - in the UK, the King is head of state.
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