Last November in Minsk, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested to German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle that he should cease being gay.
Lukashenko recently acknowledged the incident, telling reporters that he dislikes "faggots" and confirming he told Westerwelle "it is necessary to live a normal life."
Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseev expressed surprise that there was little reaction to the incident from German gay activists or the German government.
"To leave without reaction what Lukashenko said is nothing else than setting a dangerous precedent," Alekseev said. "If he can bash verbally a German minister on his sexual orientation, then why he would not do it with all Belarusian LGBT people.
"People have to understand that their absence of reaction can have some negative side effects to others."
