A full‐wave equation has been obtained from the gyrokinetic theory for the fast wave traversing a minority cyclotron resonance [Phys. Fluids B4, 493 (1992)] with the aid of the fast wave approximation [Phys. Fluids31, 1614 (1988)]. This theory describes the transmission, reflection, and absorption of the fast wave for arbitrary values of the parallel wave number. For oblique propagation the absorption is due to both ion cyclotron damping by minority ions and mode conversion to the ion Bernstein wave. The results for a3He minority in a D plasma indicate that for perpendicular propagation and minority temperatures of a few keV the power lost by the fast wave is all mode converted whereas for minority temperatures ∼100 keV∼30% of the incident power is dissipated by the minority ions due to the gyrokinetic correction. The gyrokinetic correction also results in a significant reduction in the reflection coefficient for low field side incidence whenkzLB≲1 and the minority and hybrid resonances overlap.