April 17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mexico installs openly gay Secretary of State

 

The Mexican Senate confirmed President Claudia Sheinbaum’s nomination of Roberto Velasco Álvarez (b. 1987) as the new Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mexico’s equivalent of Secretary of State. Velasco, who is 38, is the youngest Mexican foreign minister to assume the position and the first openly gay person to head the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He received a congratulatory call from Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, upon assuming office on April 8, 2026.

Velasco took the oath of office with these words: “I assume this responsibility at a time when the international order is undergoing a very profound reconfiguration.”

Velasco holds a Masters Degree in public policy from the University of Chicago and served an internship at Chicago City Hall. In 2013 he earned a law degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

 

 

 

Unsorted pleasures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July 31

 

Just because:

Be Happy

Sports minded:

Openly Gay Rinkēvičs Sworn In as 

President of Latvia

Earlier this month 49-year-old Edgars Rinkēvičs took office as President of Latvia, becoming the first openly gay head of state in a European Union country. He won the national election in May. Your blogger is more than weary of bad news, so this lifts his spirits all the more, because East European countries are generally more conservative and less accepting of gays (Hungary and Turkey, for example). Rinkēvičs was already involved in Latvian politics when he announced he was gay on Twitter in 2014. He speaks fluent English and earned a masters degree from the U.S. National Defense University in Washington DC in the year 2000.

Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea, is a member of both NATO and the EU and supports Ukraine's efforts to stave off Russian aggression. As well, Latvia is a member of the IMF and United Nations. Latvia, once forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, regained its independence in 1991. It is noteworthy that Latvia borders both Russia and Belarus.