Posted on 09/02/2013 3:53:20 PM PDT by Libloather
President Obama will meet with several LGBT groups during his trip later this week to St. Petersburg, a move likely to ruffle Russian President Vladimir Putin after the recent passage of a series of anti-gay laws.
The president will meet with human rights activists Lev Ponomarev and Lyudmila Alexeyeva, legal aid NGO director Pavel Chikov, and Coming Out, a St. Petersburg-based LGBT organization, according to a report in BuzzFeed.
The decision to meet with the activists in not unprecedented — Obama also met with human rights leaders in 2009 — but comes amid a period of heightened tension with the Kremlin.
During his address on Syria from the Rose Garden on Saturday, Obama blasted the United Nations Security Council as "completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold [Syrian president Bashar] Assad accountable" — a clear swipe at Russia, which has threatened to block any resolution condemning the alleged sarin attack in the Damascus suburbs.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Secretary of State John Kerry's presentation on the attack "absolutely unconvincing" in a press conference on Monday, according to the Associated Press. He said the U.S. intelligence report included "nothing specific there, no geographic coordinates, no names, no proof that the tests were carried out by the professionals."
And Putin indicated he may send a delegation of Russian lawmakers to lobby the U.S. Congress against any military action in Syria, the Interfax news agency reported.
The skirmish over Syria comes after a summer dominated by a tussle with Putin over Edward Snowden, the former defense contractor responsible for leaking details of top-secret National Security Agency surveillance programs. After more than a month in the Moscow airport, the Kremlin offered Snowden temporary asylum despite protests from the White House.
Russia has also contended with a growing movement to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi over the new anti-gay laws, which threaten fines and imprisonment for those who stage gay pride rallies or events.
Earlier this summer, Obama said he did not "think it's appropriate to boycott the Olympics" — but said he hoped gay American athletes would win medals and change minds.
"One of the things I'm really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we're seeing there," he said.
WTF is wrong with that man??? Ugh!! He surely must realize this is rubbing Putin’s nose in it. What’s the point? Is he *trying* for a real shootin’ war? If so, to what end?
and...Putin smiling, watching zero implode
How else is he suppose to receive a hum job in Russia. He already got his ass handed to him by Putin...twice. Obumzo is seen as a limp wisted sister who can be intimidated, bullied, and easily pushed around. How embarrassing.
This sort of talk could give foreigners the wrong idea about America. Can't we just go back to proclaiming queerness as "the love that dares not speak its name" for a while, rather than shouting the POTUS' gayness from the bloody housetops?
Besides, G, this sort of gender-normative talk causes Michelle to just want to go shopping somewhere far away and it's costing us a fortune to ship and guard her and the dog. Don't you know there's a sequester on?
Now look. Keep it quiet until June 2016, or there's a good chance you will not be invited to the Barry/Reggie nuptials to be held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Reverend Wright officiating, and John Boehner as flowerboy. Now you wouldn't want to miss that, would you?
Wouldn't that be hilarious!
Hysterical! Definitely make history.....lol
Great. Maybe PUSSY RIOT will perform an act for VPrez 0bama.
He’ll look in the mirror? Talk with his own staff?
LOL What an expression on Vlad’s face!
“How do they prove that they’re gay? Is there some sort of secret handshake?”
He’ll know.
“birds of a feather flock together”
Yeah, likely... sounds like there will be a stand off, nobody will meet with him except in secret and he won’t want to go anywhere in secret with them.
Tea Party with Putin as a guest? Why not?
If I was Putin, I’d send him a couple of KGB agents to proposition him. That’s a cruel thought, I know. This is ultra stupid, but if Barack goes to Russia with hate then he deserves what he gets.
Actually I’d preach him the gospel, right in front of all the public microphones... make this pseudo Christian Barack either squirm or repent. God ain’t wimpy and yeah it is a valid thing to be “Christian tough.”
“birds of a feather flock together”
Closed door meeting?
Back door meeting?
All BO ever thinks about is Gay crap.
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