ABOVE: Olena Shevchenko of Insight in 2014. Photo courtesy Olena Shevchenko.
LGBTQ activists in Ukraine spoke out Feb. 24, strongly condeming Russia’s invasion of their country.
Kyiv Pride in a tweet urged their supporters around the world to “call on your governments to stand up and to take action against the war in Ukraine.”
“We need to stop it now, we need to show how powerful we are all together, and Putin will stand no chance,” said Kyiv Pride.
Kyiv Pride in another tweet it wrote in Ukrainian mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“We have left the past to which (Putin) seeks to draw us far behind,” said Kyiv Pride. “We are a country that has chosen the values of human rights, humanity, life and personality. Putin lives in the past.”
Ми залишаємося сильними, нас не залякати. Путін поламає всі зуби, намагаючись нас вкусити. Ми залишили далеко позаду те минуле, до якого він прагне нас затягнути. Ми – країна, що обрала цінності прав людини, людяності, життя, особистості. Путін живе у минулому, там йому й місце.
— KyivPride (@KyivPride) February 24, 2022
Activists in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, with whom the Washington Blade spoke after the invasion began said they are scared.
Helen Globa, co-founder of Tergo, a support group for parents and friends of LGBTQ Ukrainians, said she saw “clouds of black smoke” and heard “bombs exploding” and the “sounds of planes.”
“(It’s) scary, damn it,” said Globa.
Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, another Ukrainian LGBTQ rights group, echoed Globa.
“It’s bombing all around,” said Shevchenko from Kyiv. “We hear explosions.”
Ruslana Panukhnyk, a Kyiv-based LGBTQ activist, told the Blade that she is now in the capital’s suburbs because “there were a lot of explosions this morning.”
“As of now everything is silent near the place I am staying, but my friends in the city are noticing some blast sounds and planes flying over the city,” said Panukhnyk. “We are closely following the situation and it looks like Russian troops are invading from all directions, except the Western one.”
Shevchenko sent to the Blade a video from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that is less than 30 miles from the Russian border in the eastern part of the country, that appears to show a Russian airstrike. Shevchenko also provided pictures of damaged buildings in Mariupol, a port city that is near the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic that Russia has now recognized as an independent country.
Sphere, a Kharkiv-based LGBTQ rights group, on Wednesday in a post to its Facebook page said the “escalation of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine currently has an unprecedented impact on vulnerable groups, including the LGBT+ community.” Nash Mir, another Ukrainian advocacy organization, also has offices in Kharkiv, Odessa and other cities across the country.
“As we have written, this war is not about dividing the spheres of influence,” said Nash Mir in a statement it posted to its Facebook page on Thursday. “This war is a war of civilizations. The Free World opposes the Russian world, freedom and democracy oppose its traditional values.”
“Propaganda and protection of these ‘traditional values,’ among which homophobia occupies anan honorable place, is a direct aid to the Russian world,” stressed Nash Mir. “This is the ideological justification of the Russian aggression. This is a direct assistance to our mortal enemy.”
“This is the time for Ukrainian advocates of these values to decide on which side they are,” it added.
Advocacy groups outside of Ukraine have also condemned the invasion.
“We stand with the brave people of Ukraine,” tweeted Tbilisi Pride in Georgia.
ILGA-Europe echoed these sentiments.
“Like everyone, we woke this morning with shock and regret to hear of the invasion of Ukraine,” it said. “We will play our part to support and stand with everyone in Ukraine, Russia and the entire region who works towards peace and democracy, and to support those who are made even more vulnerable.”
Like everyone, we woke this morning with shock & regret to hear of the invasion of Ukraine. We will play our part to support & stand with everyone in Ukraine, Russia and the entire region who works towards peace & democracy, and to support those who are made even more vulnerable pic.twitter.com/ypdBkj8Erv
— ILGA-Europe (@ILGAEurope) February 24, 2022
Rainbow Railroad, a Canada-based organization that assists LGBTQ refugees around the world, said it is “alarmed by the attack on Ukraine and are concerned about the impact this conflict will have on Ukraine’s LGBTQI+ community.”
“We are preparing, in consultation with our partners, possible ways we can help people at risk in the region,” said a Rainbow Railroad on Thursday.
Rainbow Railroad is alarmed by the attack on Ukraine and are concerned about the impact this conflict will have on Ukraine's LGBTQI+ community. We are preparing, in consultation with our partners, possible ways we can help people at risk in the region.https://t.co/vLW7nSdTaz
— Rainbow Railroad (@RainbowRailroad) February 24, 2022
