GLR May-June 2023

Inside Ukraine: An LGBTQ Leader Speaks Out GUEST OPINION

impacted LGBTQ rights and the community itself? AK : It has dramatically worsened our everyday life but defi nitely improved the political and legislative situation of the Ukrainian LGBTQ community. I’m sure you understand all hor rors of the war which we’re experiencing. However, obtaining the candidacy to the EU enabled the Ukrainian authorities to adopt two symbolically important documents protecting LGBTQ rights: the ratification of the Istanbul Convention and the law “On Media.” The war drew public attention to the problems of same-sex partners fighting for Ukraine and undermined all efforts of Russ ian homophobic propaganda. The public trust in the ultracon servative Ukrainian churches has decreased sharply, while the stance towards LGBTQ people has improved. The most important issues facing Ukrainian society are the global changes that are happening. We are part of a globalized world. Of course, we have open communication [unlike Rus sia], and therefore free access to the internet and global infor mation. Ukrainian civil society is also quite strong. I’m proud of this, because I’ve met with many activists from Eastern Eu rope, and Ukrainian civil society is one of the strongest. Ukraine is one of the most progressive countries in the eastern part of Europe. Understanding the necessity of European inte gration for Ukraine and the global changes towards LGBTQ is sues has influenced this change.

F INBARR T OESLAND S INCE RUSSIA’S WAR of aggression began on 24 Feb ruary 2022, the lives of everyday Ukrainians have fun damentally 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 Ukrain ian LGBTQ activist, one of the founders of the Nash Mir (Our World) Gay and Lesbian Centre, Ukraine’s leading LGBTQ ad vocacy center, and is currently working to support the coun try’s LGBTQ community, which is under siege. We met at the open-air café next to Termen’s Fountain in Kyiv and discussed the current situation for LGBTQ people liv ing in Ukraine, how the war has altered the lives of Ukraini ans, and the likelihood that same-sex marriage will become a reality in Ukraine after the war ends. The interview, which was conducted in English, has been edited for length and clarity. Finbarr Toesland: What is the Nash Mir Gay and Lesbian Centre, and how did you operate before the Russian invasion? Andrii Kravchuk : The Nash Mir Centre is one of the oldest Ukrainian LGBTQ organizations. We started 25 years ago. For a year after we began our activities, we fought with our local De partment of Justice because they didn’t want to register us as an openly LGBTQ organization. When I talk about “us,” it was just some friends who started the center as a group of young gay guys. It was during the first years after Ukrainian independence, and we saw opportunities to improve society for LGBTQ people. Since then, we have set up a monitoring network for anti- LGBTQ violence, discrimina tion or other violations of rights in Ukraine. Until 2014, we never cooperated with the Ukrainian gov ernment. They rejected all of our proposals and did not want to speak to us. After a better person became president of Ukraine, the situation changed. We are currently cooperating with our government in some areas. For instance, they invited us to work on some important policies around civil rights. Even in 2015, when the first LGBTQ action plan was adopted by our gov ernment, it was absolutely unexpected for us. They included all our proposals. Not all became law, around one-third did, but it was still very good. Before the war, we had a series of trainings with local po lice forces around sexual orientation and gender identity. They were quite effective and well-received in most cases, but we couldn’t manage to finish a session in Vinnitsa. Those meetings were disrupted by local anti- LGBTQ organizations, and even the police could not protect themselves from this attack. Lviv was the only city where we tried to organize such a meeting with police, but it failed, because we were of no in terest to the local police. Lviv is a major center for far-right nationalism, and they see LGBTQ people as enemies, not just on a political basis but also on a national basis. FT: With the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine coming up, could you talk about how the events of the past year have

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May–June 2023

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