A prominent gay activist in Russia has announced he is leaving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement.
Nikolai Alekseyev, formally one of the foremost leaders of the gay and lesbian community in Russia, announced his decision on Twitter, saying "I only paid own money and faced insults."
Leading Russian gay activist Nikolai Alekseyev has announced he is leaving the LGBT movement
He said the decision followed an article in a US gay and lesbian lifestyle magazine that accused him of becoming the "Kremlin's pocket gay."
The author, Michael Lucas – director of gay pornographic films – wrote Alekseyev had "changed his tune" and could no longer be trusted as an advocate of LGBT rights in Russia.
Alekseyev's decision comes just days after he revealed police wearing plain clothes attempted to break into his apartment as he faces a criminal case over his "insulting" Twitter remarks regarding Russia's anti-gay legislation.
He said the search was linked to an investigation requested by two United Russia lawmakers, Yelena Mizulina and Yelena Batalina, who say the campaigner insulted them on Twitter.
Yelena Mizulina, the head of the State Duma's Committee on Family, Women and Children, and her first deputy Yelena Batalina told prosecutors in July that Alexeyev posted rude comments about them in connection with the "gay propaganda law" that they support.
Mizulina told Izvestia newspaper prosecutors were to launch a criminal case on charges of “insulting a representative of authority.”