Politics
Russian activists have mixed reactions to Obama meeting
U.S. ‘cannot approach relations through prism of human rights alone’
Russian activists have mixed reactions to their meeting with President Obama.(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key).
Russian activists who attended a meeting last week with President Obama in St. Petersburg came away with mixed feelings about the event, with one claiming Obama told them he couldn’t make human rights the lone priority in U.S.-Russia relations.
Both LGBT activists who attended the meeting with Obama on Friday spoke to the Washington Blade and said they were pleased the meeting took place, but disagreed with some of what Obama said. They were among nine civil society representatives who took part in a roundtable discussion with Obama as part of his visit to Russia for the G-20 summit.
Igor Kochetkov, director of the LGBT Network in Russia, spoke with the Blade in a phone interview through a translator from Human Rights First and said Obama told activists he had to prioritize issues other than human rights.
“Obama said that his agenda is quite extensive and he cannot approach U.S.-Russia relations through the prism of human rights alone,” Kochetkov said. “He said there’s economic partnerships, military/strategic cooperation, and in order to achieve consensus on those subject areas, he has to compromise and find a balance in discussions about human rights.”
Kochetkov said he disagrees with Obama on this view of human rights issues.
“I think this approach does not have a future because in Russia, racist and homophobic attitudes are proportional to the growth of anti-Americanism and anti-Western attitudes,” Kochetkov said. “And the West won’t be able to get what it wants in the economic or military realm while being silenced on human rights.”
Still, Kochetkov said he wouldn’t characterize himself as disappointed in Obama’s remarks and noted he was “pleased” the meeting took place.
“I think it’s very important that Obama invited human rights activists, including specifically LGBT activists from Russia,” Kochetkov said. “It was a serious signal to the global community, a signal that it’s impossible to discuss human rights in today’s world without a conversation about the status of gay rights. Not everyone, especially in Russia, understands that.”
Olga Lenkova, communications director for the St. Petersburg-based LGBT group Coming Out, told the Washington Blade via email she was also satisfied with the experience.
“We did not have any particular expectations from the meeting, other than hoping for a good exchange of ideas, which has in fact taken place,” Lenkova said.
Lenkova said the focus of the meeting was on human rights in general, and the “complicated situation” for civil society leaders in Russia in addition to global challenges such as the “relative ineffectiveness” of the United Nations and global warming.
“President Obama tried to respond to all questions raised despite our obvious disagreements on Syria for example,” Lenkova said. “He mostly talked about the U.S., highlighting that there are many challenges and problems, the ones we mentioned — death penalty, Guantanamo, surveillance, etc. — and others that can’t be easily overcome by a president, but where the active civil society plays the key role.”
According to Lenkova, Obama concluded the session by saying, “Any state has to guard itself from protecting itself instead of its citizens. You’ve challenged me to do more and I will. And sometimes I will succeed and sometimes not.”
Which LGBT issues came up during the meeting? Kochetkov said he urged Obama to be more open and vocal in his criticism of what’s happening in Russia. He also urged Obama to build international awareness of LGBT issues.
“I also asked President Obama to consider ways of monitoring hate crime incidents through the international community,” Kochetkov said. “Hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity bias are not totally investigated or investigated at all sometimes, so we need an international mechanism to look into those cases as well.”
Amid growing international attention, the activists said they also raised concerns with Obama about a controversial anti-gay law that prohibits pro-gay propaganda to minors in Russia.
Dmitri Makarov, a member of the Russia-based International Youth Human Rights Movement who was a non-LGBT participant at the meeting, told the Blade via email the anti-gay law took up a significant part of the discussion.
“The Russian anti-gay laws were brought up and were a significant part of the discussion,” Makarov said. “There was a press briefing also at the end of the meeting by LGBT Network.”
Kochetkov said he raised the anti-propaganda law with Obama, but the president declined to comment on it.
“He made no comment, but he was there to listen to the situation in Russia,” Kochetkov said.
Lenkova said the measure did come up during the discussion, but LGBT rights weren’t the main topic of the meeting.
“Regarding LGBT issues he said that he had already been quite explicit about what he thinks about discrimination against LGBT people,” Lenkova said. “He also referred to the changes that took place in the U.S. in this regard within the last 10 to 15 years, when he was saying that though problems in the U.S. are still many, the system is capable of change.”
Some LGBT activists said prior to the meeting they hoped Obama would take his opposition to the anti-gay law directly to the Russian government and media during his trip to St. Petersburg.
A video report on Saturday from European television station Euronews claimed gay activists left the meeting with Obama feeling “disappointed.” It based that conclusion on an interview with Kochetkov, who talked through a translator.
Kochetkov responded to the report by reiterating he wasn’t disappointed in the meeting, but said he disagrees with Obama on some issues.
“It’s more nuanced,” Kochetkov said. “I’m not disappointed. I said that I disagree with President Obama on certain things.”
Nonetheless, International Youth Human Rights Movement’s Makarov said he thinks the report is “quite accurate” — or at least “as much as a one-minute report focusing on just one aspect can be accurate.”
“I would have liked to hear a more decisive stance, but I do understand the argument that there are other issues that the president has to care about,” Makarov said. “Yet, as a human rights defender I would push for human rights to be prioritized in relations with Russia in particular.”
The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on the report or reactions from the activists.
According to a transcript of remarks provided by the White House after the event, Obama talked about freedom of the press and assembly with activists.
“I think it is important for us to remember that in every country — here in Russia, in the United States, around the globe — that part of good government is making sure that we’re creating a space for civil society to function effectively: freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, making sure that people can join together and make common cause around the issues that they care deeply about,” Obama said.
Congress
Top Congressional Democrats reintroduce Equality Act on Trump’s 100th day in office
Legislation would codify federal LGBTQ-inclusive non-discrimination protections
In a unified display of support for LGBTQ rights on President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, congressional Democrats, including leadership from the U.S. House and U.S. Senate, reintroduced the Equality Act on Tuesday.
The legislation, which would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, codifying these protections into federal law in areas from jury service to housing and employment, faces an unlikely path to passage amid Republican control of both chambers of Congress along with the White House.
Speaking at a press conference on the grass across the drive from the Senate steps were Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (Wis.), who is the first out LGBTQ U.S. Senator, U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (N.H.), who is gay and is running for the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.), and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (Ore.).
Also in attendance were U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (Del.), who is the first transgender member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.), U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (Ill.), and representatives from LGBTQ advocacy groups including the Human Rights Campaign and Advocates 4 Trans Equality.
Responding to a question from the Washington Blade on the decision to reintroduce the bill as Trump marks the hundredth day of his second term, Takano said, “I don’t know that there was a conscious decision,” but “it’s a beautiful day to stand up for equality. And, you know, I think the president is clearly hitting a wall that Americans are saying, many Americans are saying, ‘we didn’t vote for this.'”
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Sunday showed Trump’s approval rating in decline amid signs of major opposition to his agenda.
“Many Americans never voted for this, but many Americans, I mean, it’s a great day to remind them what is in the core of what is the right side of history, a more perfect union. This is the march for a more perfect union. That’s what most Americans believe in. And it’s a great day on this 100th day to remind our administration what the right side of history is.”
Merkley, when asked about the prospect of getting enough Republicans on board with the Equality Act to pass the measure, noted that, “If you can be against discrimination in employment, you can be against discrimination in financial contracts, you can be against discrimination in mortgages, in jury duty, you can be against discrimination in public accommodations and housing, and so we’re going to continue to remind our colleagues that discrimination is wrong.”
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which was sponsored by Merkley, was passed by the Senate in 2013 but languished in the House. The bill was ultimately broadened to become the Equality Act.
“As Speaker Nancy Pelosi has always taught me,” Takano added, “public sentiment is everything. Now is the moment to bring greater understanding and greater momentum, because, really, the Congress is a reflection of the people.”
“While we’re in a different place right this minute” compared to 2019 and 2021 when the Equality Act was passed by the House, Pelosi said she believes “there is an opportunity for corporate America to weigh in” and lobby the Senate to convince members of the need to enshrine federal anti-discrimination protections into law “so that people can fully participate.”
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’
Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences,” said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Congress
Democratic lawmakers travel to El Salvador, demand information about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker
Congressman Robert Garcia led delegation
California Congressman Robert Garcia on Tuesday said the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador has agreed to ask the Salvadoran government about the well-being of a gay asylum seeker from Venezuela who remains incarcerated in the Central American country.
The Trump-Vance administration last month “forcibly removed” Andry Hernández Romero, a stylist who asked for asylum because of persecution he suffered because of his sexual orientation and political beliefs, and other Venezuelans from the U.S. and sent them to El Salvador.
The White House on Feb. 20 designated Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, as an “international terrorist organization.” President Donald Trump on March 15 invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which the Associated Press notes allows the U.S. to deport “noncitizens without any legal recourse.”
Garcia told the Washington Blade that he and three other lawmakers — U.S. Reps. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), Maxine Dexter (D-Ore.), and Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) — met with U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador William Duncan and embassy staffers in San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital.
“His lawyers haven’t heard from him since he was abducted during his asylum process,” said Garcia.
The gay California Democrat noted the embassy agreed to ask the Salvadoran government to “see how he (Hernández) is doing and to make sure he’s alive.”
“That’s important,” said Garcia. “They’ve agreed to that … we’re hopeful that we get some word, and that will be very comforting to his family and of course to his legal team.”
Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari traveled to El Salvador days after House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) denied their request to use committee funds for their trip.
“We went anyways,” said Garcia. “We’re not going to be intimidated by that.”
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on April 14 met with Trump at the White House. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) three days later sat down with Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who the Trump-Vance administration wrongfully deported to El Salvador on March 15.
Abrego was sent to the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT. The Trump-Vance administration continues to defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ordered it to “facilitate” Abrego’s return to the U.S.
Garcia, Frost, Dexter, and Ansari in a letter they sent a letter to Duncan and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday demanded “access to” Hernández, who they note “may be imprisoned at” CECOT. A State Department spokesperson referred the Blade to the Salvadoran government in response to questions about “detainees” in the country.
Garcia said the majority of those in CECOT who the White House deported to El Salvador do not have criminal records.
“They can say what they want, but if they’re not presenting evidence, if a judge isn’t sending people, and these people have their due process, I just don’t understand how we have a country without due process,” he told the Blade. “It’s just the bedrock of our democracy.”
Garcia said he and Frost, Dexter, and Ansari spoke with embassy staff, Salvadoran journalists and human rights activists and “anyone else who would listen” about Hernández. The California Democrat noted he and his colleagues also highlighted Abrego’s case.
“He (Hernández) was accepted for his asylum claim,” said Garcia. “He (Hernández) signed up for the asylum process on an app that we created for this very purpose, and then you get snatched up and taken to a foreign prison. It is unacceptable and inhumane and cruel and so it’s important that we elevate his story and his case.”
The Blade asked Garcia why the Trump-Vance administration is deporting people to El Salvador without due process.
“I honestly believe that he (Trump) is a master of dehumanizing people, and he wants to continue his horrendous campaign to dehumanize migrants and scare the American public and lie to the American public,” said Garcia.
The State Department spokesperson in response to the Blade’s request for comment referenced spokesperson Tammy Bruce’s comments about Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador.
“These Congressional representatives would be better off focused on their own districts,” said the spokesperson. “Instead, they are concerned about non-U.S. citizens.”
I make more money than my partner and getting resentful
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
PHOTOS: Victory Fund National Champagne Brunch
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Tom Goss returns with ‘Bear Friends Furever Tour’
TRAITOR: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has blood on his hands
Potential Pope Francis successor views homosexuality as an ‘abomination’
Jacob Elordi rides high in ‘On Swift Horses’
Liberal Party wins Canadian election
