President Barack Obama met with gay rights activists in Russia on
Friday.
The president met with a group of 9 civil society leaders,
including some gay rights activists, before returning home at the
conclusion of the G-20 summit in Saint Petersburg.
According to a White House pool report filed by Peter Baker of The
New York Times, Igor Kochetkov, director of LGBT Network, and
Olga Lenkova, spokesperson for Coming Out, were present at the
hour-long meeting.
“I got my start as a community organizer, somebody who was
working in what would be called an NGO in the international
community,” Obama said. “I got elected president by engaging
people at a grass roots level.”
Obama called the work of such activists “critically important”
to an open society.
“I'm very proud of their work,” he said. “Part of good
government is making sure we're creating a space for civil society.”
The meeting comes amid heavy criticism of anti-gay laws signed by
Russian President Vladimir Putin. The laws prohibit gay and lesbian
couples from adopting Russian-born children and the promotion of gay
rights where minors might be present, effectively banning Gay Pride
marches and similar demonstrations. Russia's “gay propaganda”
law has provoked worldwide outrage and calls to boycott the upcoming
Winter Olympics to be held in Sochi.
Obama has previously criticized the law but decried a boycott as
“inappropriate.”
(Related: Obama:
Not appropriate to boycott Olympics over Russian anti-gay law.)
Putin this week dismissed the criticism in an interview with the
AP.
(Related: Vladimir
Putin says he's not anti-gay; admits Tchaikovsky may have been gay.)