Rinkevics is 49 years old and was born in 1973 in Jurmala, a famous resort town in what was then part of the Soviet Union. He’s a symbol of a new mentality for the small Baltic country, a clean break from the so-called “Soviet mindset.” That’s not just, or even mostly, because of his sexuality, but also his staunch support of Ukraine and his strongly held position that Latvia is, and historically has been, a Western nation, instead of just a transit hub between the East and the West.