Gay community in chelentsi, ukraine

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Ukraine face challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ individuals. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence in , the Ukrainian LGBTQ community has gradually become more visible and more organized politically, holding several LGBTQ events in Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, and Kryvyi Rih. In the s and s. Zhenya the Tram is an artist and activist. He was born and raised in Bakhmut where, in , the organisation Donbas-Queer was set up. This significant event was quite out of the ordinary for this provincial town in an industrial region.

Ukrainian non-governmental organization that focuses on implementing and protecting the human rights of the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine. The silence inside a makeshift cinema in the heart of Kyiv was shattered with the crash of a windowpane. Fireworks flashed. Homophobic attackers were attempting to besiege the screening of a film about the lives of LGBTQ people.

Kyiv is undoubtedly the queer capital of Ukraine but other major cities have bigger and more active LGBTQ+ communities than one might expect. Southern Odesa, western Lviv and eastern Kharkiv offer opportunities and events for queer people to express themselves and stand up for their rights. In , Viktor Pylypenko, an openly gay veteran of the Donbas Volunteer Battalion, decided to change that by forming LGBT Military, a union of military, veterans and volunteers fighting for equal rights. The idea for the union came after he attended a life-changing exhibition. This is what motivated We Were Here , a Kyiv-born photography project featuring members of Ukraine forces from diverse gender and sexual orientations.

SINCE RUSSIA’S WAR of aggression began on 24 February , the lives of everyday Ukrainians have fundamentally changed. Many people in Ukraine’s LGBTQ community are fighting in the military to repel Russian forces and liberate their homeland. Andrii Kravchuk is a Ukrainian LGBTQ activist, one of the founders of the Nash Mir (Our World) Gay and Lesbian Centre, Ukraine’s leading LGBTQ. Today, many of those who were once at the forefront of this effort are now fighting for Ukraine—with arms in hand. According to a recent survey, Queer artists, musicians, activists, military personnel, and just regular civilians rose in arms to defend their nation and continue to do so every day while managing to contribute to improving the situation for LGBTI people in Ukraine by openly being who they are.