![first gay pride parade in russia first gay pride parade in russia](https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/styles/image_gallery/public/media/images/photographs/2012_Russia_lgbtflag.jpg)
He has referred to transgender rights as "crimes against humanity", said gay marriage will never be legalised, and has made the promotion of homosexuality illegal under Russia's "gay propaganda" law. "I saw a video of him a few years ago when someone asked him what he thinks of queer people and he said something like, 'Everyone has the freedom to be who they are'," Cay said. Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has expressed that the country is an "open society" and has publicly spoken out against homophobia. Last year, parliamentary committees began discussing a bill that would increase liability for discrimination and intolerance, and restrictions were lifted against gay people donating blood. Some progress in LGBTQI rights has been made since Western-backed leaders came to power in 2014. Through their activism, Cay's main motivation is for other queer people not to feel alone in country that still does not allow for same-sex marriage or same-sex adoption of children. "They are killing kids, everyone. They don't care … I cannot even comprehend it."Ĭay says they often write "be queer do crime", because if being a queer person is considered a crime then they accept the role and will be "unapologetically ourselves". "Now we're seeing all the horrible things that Russians are doing, and I don't even think that they care if it's a queer person or not," Cay said. Their attitude has changed since the first days of the war when there were fears that queer people would be specifically targeted. "I remember thinking, 'F***, I hope the war doesn't happen because it's going to destroy everything'."Ĭay recently fled to Berlin but wants to return to Kyiv to be with their loved ones, even if it is still unsafe. I was in a healthy relationship, I loved the people around me and my friends, and I loved what I was doing," Cay, who asked to go by their activist pseudonym, said. They were planning a queer party in the coming weeks and had received a grant to create a short film about activism. "This does not augur well for LGBT people in Ukraine under Russian occupation."Ĭatch up on all the news about the Russian invasion of Ukraine Queer life before the invasionĪlthough there were still problems with homophobia and transphobia, Cay - a non-binary queer activist with the Rebel Queers - said life in Kyiv before February 24 was "really amazing". "There has been no accountability for the round-up and torture of gay men in Chechnya, where the Kremlin turned a blind eye to these severe abuses," Graeme Reid, LGBT rights director at Human Rights Watch, told the ABC. Such reports are taken seriously in the community, especially after the violent "anti-gay purge" in the southern Russian republic of Chechnya in 2017.Īuthorities were accused of arresting more than 100 gay men and subjecting them to torture, with some of them killed. "One of the national slogans is 'Glory to Nation! Death to the enemies!' and the LGBTQI soldiers in the army have changed it to 'Queer to Nation! Death to the enemies!'" he said. He said they were fighting for their freedoms and have brought a "specific greeting" with them.
![first gay pride parade in russia first gay pride parade in russia](http://logoonline.mtvnimages.com/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:s3.amazonaws.com/articles.newnownext.com-production/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/GettyImages-87393954-1534448327-1534448329.jpg)
We are well supplied, trained and have 100 plans for any circumstance - we're all inspired and confident."Īndrii, who preferred to only give his first name, said there were a lot of LGBTQI people in the Ukrainian military who were on the front lines after fighting in Donbas for eight years. "I was extremely scared the first days, but now things are different. "We're in danger, of not only imperial Tsar reign, there's also a damn lot of sexism, racism and tremendous homophobia coming to us from the east," he told the ABC. Identifying as pansexual - which means he is attracted to all genders - the 26-year-old had no hesitation joining Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces on day one of Russia's invasion.įar from his life as a psychotherapist, Andrii is out to protect the streets where he grew up and to fight against the "social-political oppressive machine". With a rainbow sticker reading "Make Kyiv Queer Again" proudly branded across his rifle, Andrii takes to the front line in the north of the capital each day.