Igor Kochetkov

Igor Kochetkov

Igor Viktorovich Kochetkov (born 13 May 1970) is a Russian gay rights activist who heads the Russian LGBT Network.

Kochetkov has been active in the opposition to the 2013 Russian law that bans promotion of homosexuality to minors.[1] He has blamed the law for legitimizing and increasing violence against gays.[2][3]

In September 2013, Kochetkov along with other Russian human rights activists met with US President Barack Obama in Saint Petersburg.[4]

Along with Alexey Davydov he was named one of the world's 100 top thinkers in 2013 by the magazine Foreign Policy "for fighting Russia's state-sponsored homophobia".[3]

Kochetkov was along with Frank Mugisha, Sunil Babu Pant and ILGA nominated for the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Labour Parliamentarians Anette Trettebergstuen and Håkon Haugli.[5]

  1. ^ Miriam Elder (30 November 2012) Russian parliament to consider federal anti-gay law The Guardian.
  2. ^ Alec Luhn (1 September 2013) Russian anti-gay law prompts rise in homophobic violence The Guardian.
  3. ^ a b Alexey Davydov and Igor KochetkovForeign Policy. Retrieved 1 October 2014. Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Liza Dobkina and Matt Spetalnick (6 September 2013) Obama meets Russian activists but avoids criticizing Kremlin Reuters.
  5. ^ Kristian Berg Harpviken Nobel Peace Prize 2014: PRIO Director's Speculations PRIO. Retrieved 1 October 2014