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Threats force Russian LGBT activist to cancel trip to D.C.
Igor Kochetkov had been scheduled to speak at human rights summit
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (left) meets with Igor Kochetkov of the Russian LGBT Network and other advocates from Ukraine and Georgia in D.C. on Sept. 18. (Photo courtesy of Alex Cruz)
Russian LGBT Network Chair Igor Kochetkov had been scheduled to take part in Human Rights First’s annual Human Rights Summit that began at the Newseum on Wednesday.
“I am very sorry that I cannot be with you,” Kochetkov said in a statement Human Rights First provided to the Washington Blade. “The current situation around LGBT organizations is seriously complicated, with attacks on activists and ordinary members of the LGBT community.”
Kochetkov said the Russian LGBT Network “regularly” receives threats from those he described as right-wing extremists. He noted in his statement that his organization recently learned about “planned provocations on the part of right-wing radicals against” it.
Kochetkov did not specify the type of threats he said the Russian LGBT Network received.
“We have to take these threats very seriously, so I had to stay in Russia for an urgent response to possible incident,” he said.
Sarah Mendelson of USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Human Assistance said on Wednesday at the start of one of the two panels in which Kochetkov was to have participated that he cancelled his appearance because he “felt the threats to his organization are too acute right now.”
“It is with deep regret that we don’t have our colleague,” Mendelson said.
Kochetkov is among the nine Russian human rights advocates with whom President Obama met in September during the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg. Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a few weeks later also met with Kochetkov and two other LGBT rights advocates from the Ukraine and Georgia on Capitol Hill.
The Russian LGBT Network is among the groups that continue to criticize the Kremlin over its gay rights record that includes a broadly worded ban on gay propaganda to minors. A 2012 law requires organizations that receive funding from outside Russia to register as a “foreign agent.”
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.
Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.
Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.
Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.
“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”
In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.
“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”
Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.
“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”
Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.
“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”
Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.
“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
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