Moscow Times Names President Obama A Hero Of Russian LGBT Rights Movement

The Moscow Times today named President Obama as one of the top five heroes of Russia's LGBT rights movement.  

American authorities have long raised questions about human rights and LGBT issues in Russia, and Obama sent a clear signal during his visit to St. Petersburg for the G20 summit, where he organized a meeting with human rights and LGBT activists amid a busy schedule and ongoing negotiations regarding the conflict in Syria. The meeting was attended by investigative journalist Yelena Milashina, lawyer Ivan Pavlov of human rights organization Memorial, and human rights activist Boris Pynstintsev, among others. Originally scheduled for 40 minutes, his meting eventually lasted for 90 minutes, reported Pink News.

Topping the newpaper's list of five is Russian activist Nikolai Alexeyev, whose increasingly bizarre behavior has recently brought denouncements from many US-based and foreign LGBT activists.

NOTE: The Moscow Times, unlike many Russian media sources, is not state-owned. The paper is owned by a Finland-based corporation and is not sold on Moscow's newsstands.