PODCAST
EXCLUSIVE
What is it like to be gay in Ukraine?
Elina Kent: Welcome to the Kyiv Post Podcast, where you can tune in to stories that give you a deeper understanding of Ukraine.
I’m your host Elina Kent. I’m a multimedia producer and lifestyle journalist here at the Kyiv Post.
June, the month of Pride, has come to an end. I wanted to give a snapshot of what it is like to be a part of the queer community in Ukraine in general.
Eastern Europe isn’t known for its full openness and acceptance of the LGTBQ community. In fact, it has built quite a reputation for its homophobia. Russia has banned homosexual individuals, whose sexuality is enough to convict them of a crime.
Ukraine, like many post-Soviet countries, initially inherited all the features of the Soviet regime. It had no tradition of the rule of law or civil society, no respect for human and civil rights, and low tolerance for minorities or dissent. But the country has sought to distance itself and find its own identity. It took the first step by declaring independence in 1991 but really took off after 2014.
The internet has helped with progress and has allowed LGTBQ people to date and communicate online rather than risk meeting at undisclosed locations. However that too has its own risks with intentional tracking and catfishing of queer people online by homophobic groups or the police, beating up the unsuspecting gay person who thought they were showing up for a Tinder date, which has happened several times in the past.
A decade ago there were no vast open events supporting the LGTBQ community, or open discussion and inclusivity within Ukrainian society.
But the situation has vastly improved. The Pride parade is not exclusive to just Kyiv anymore, and has been held in other cities throughout Ukraine such as Kharkiv, Odessa, and for the first time this year, in Zaporizhia.
Sofia Lapina: Ukraine at this moment in time is a really interesting country. We are now going through an “express course of tolerance”.
EK: That was Sofia Lapina, the co-founder of Ukraine Pride, a recently-created organization that is advocating for LGTBQ rights through rave protests, parties, and media campaigns. She used to work for Kyiv Pride, the organization that started the annual March for Equality, and fight against hate crimes towards queer people in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s pride parade, March for Equality, has grown every year before the coronavirus pandemic stopped all mass gatherings and events. The 2019 parade was the largest so far, with around 8,000 people coming together to celebrate and showcase that queer people do in fact exist in Kyiv.
Those 8,000 people were also surrounded by 15,000 police officers, carefully formed around them in order to prevent homophobic protesters from attacking the attendees like in prior years.
SL: Even though it’s pride and you are in all colors, you are in a police box. Where in other prides you can just show up and wave your hands at children and continue on, you cannot do that here.
You come out as if to war. You walk 300 meters, then everyone quickly gets ready to leave.
EK: One famous aspect of Kyiv Pride is its several pages of safety instructions explaining what to bring and how to leave the event safely. This includes bringing medicine and water to wash your eyes out, how to change clothes quickly and take off all memorabilia indicating you were at pride, and what routes to take through the metro station.
For the organizers themselves it was even more complicated.
SL: A special car was waiting for us organizers, because we couldn’t immediately return home. For several hours we would have to drive around the city to mix up those following us, for a portion a police car drives alongside with us then it lets us go, and we continue driving on and on and on, and then within a couple hours when we are at the edge of Kyiv we can get out and take a deep breath and start returning home.
EK: Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the March for Equality in 2020 was cancelled, instead KyivPride “hacked” the famous Motherland Monument by flying drones out with a large rainbow flag, positioning just right so it looked like the 200 foot woman was holding up a rainbow flag for all of Ukraine to see.
Sound bite: “If you cannot be seen, you cannot be heard. It is supposed to be a symbol of victory and protection. But even now in modern Ukraine human rights are not protected. We had to do something to wake up society.”
The statue’s symbol was suddenly transformed from soviet values to represent human rights. The media campaign ended up winning silver at the Cannes Lions competition.
Sound bite: “The Kyiv pride event became visible all across the world. A simple bold idea proving that Ukraine is ready for change.”
EK: And over last 2 years, Ukraine has really experienced this express course of tolerance, with more and more spaces available for queer people to feel safe in, such as underground raves.
Yura Dvizhon: Our techno culture in Ukraine helps people, especially young people, realize who they are and don’t be afraid of who they are. helps them to express themselves
EK: That was Yura Dvizhon, a music video director and LGTBQ activist.
YD: So I think that Ukraine is getting stronger and has more tolerance for different people. And I am happy that I live here, and not like in Moscow or Russia or Belarus or other countries like in Georgia or Kazakhstan. I hear news and I speak with my friends who live there, and the situation is totally different compared to Ukraine. That’s why I think that we are on the right way.
EK: In our previous podcast episode about rising techno and police brutality, we also discuss how the queer community has found a safe space to meet often and not worry about homophobic attacks at these techno parties.
SL: 2 – 3 years ago when I started to work with events and non formal events that included LGTBQ friendly terms, or pure LGTBQ events, they were scared.
But now the queer accepted events are at the top. And every event is trying to bring that standard to their own event, either by saying they won’t accept discrimination, racism, and hate speech or completely orienting their event to LGTBQ culture.
I’m also not saying that there are a lot of spaces, but techno events are growing.
EK: And as more and more of these events occur, with planes of people flying into Kyiv from Berlin and other parts of Europe every weekend, there’s more discourse, conversation and exchange of awareness and information.
In a report by LGBT Human rights group NASH MIR Center in 2020 found that over the past 9 years the share of those who claim they do not want gay people as their neighbors decreased from 62% to 45%.
Although the pandemic limited the ways Yura wanted to bring awareness about the LGTBQ community, he was still able to continue his activism by going onto several talk shows to start a dialogue.
YD: I think it helped some people to understand and realize that not all gay people look like they has interpreted through TV shows like many years ago. That gay people can look totally like other straight people on the street.
EK: The public response was more than he could have hoped.
YD: It was crazy. When I posted on my instagram that post was the most likeable and shareable from all my posts. I reached many many peoples, and I reached many good comments from good people, not only LGTBQ or LGTBQ friendly. I wasn’t expecting to get such a good feedback as I got. That fact has motivated me and I gave another interview on another TV show about stars. And it was again, I got a lot of good comments and feedback.
EK: As Ukraine continues to strive to join the West it will need to continue to catch up in the sphere of human rights when it comes to the LGTBQ community. And as much as there is more cultural exchange and boom than in previous years, there is still a long way to go.
It is great to see that there are more and more LGTBQ oriented events and organizations growing. From the known Kyiv Pride to the new Ukraine Pride which plans on a Rave pride at the president’s office this summer.
YD: So I think Ukraine should show to the world that we have the same equality that other modern and successful countries.
EK: Thank you for listening to the Kyiv Post podcast. I’m your host Elina Kent. You can support organizations such as Kyiv Pride or Ukraine Pride and their work by following their social media and donating to help their projects. You can subscribe to our podcast on all streaming platforms and follow along on our website. Stay safe, stay home and subscribe to the Kyiv Post.
