Artsyom Krystafara from Minsk represents Italy in Mr Gay World contest
The Belarus-born man from Minsk was adopted by an Italian family at the age of 7.
This year Mr Gay World is held in South Africa. Twenty-three participants will compete for the title. Belarus is not presented in the competition, Belarusian News reports, but the representative of Italy, Artsyom Krystafara, is a native of Minsk. The man says that he is half-Italian, half-Belarusian.
At the age of seven, Artsyom was adopted by an Italian family. Since then he had lived in the Italian city of Bari. In Belarus, he has a biological mother and his brother and sister.
The 22-year-old Artsyom is a university student. In recent months, he studied in Poland as an exchange student.
He says that fight against homophobia is his main purpose of participation in the contest.
The contest Mr Gay World will be held on 26 April. There is a voting process at the site of the competition.