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]

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