Rinkevics has occasionally been the victim of a whispering campaign regarding his sexuality including during the run up to October's parliamentary elections in which he comfortably retained his seat in parliament.
On Thursday evening he put a stop to the rumour-mongering with a tweet supporting the concept of same-sex legal partnerships similar to those recently approved in neighboring Estonia.
"Our country must create a legal framework for all types of partnerships, I will fight for it, I know that there will immediately be megahysteria but #Proudtobegay" he wrote.
Mūsu valstij ir jārada tiesisks regulējums visu veida partnerattiecībām, cīnīšos par to, zinu, ka tūliņ būs megahistērja, bet #Proudtobegay
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) November 6, 2014
Rinkevics is the first leading political figure in Latvia to come out as gay.
Later he followed the first tweet up with an even clearer second statement in English:
I proudly announce I'am gay... Good luck all of you...
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) November 6, 2014
