Ukrae’s Gay Combat Volunteers Are Ready to Fight for Their Liv Agast Anti-LGBTQ Vladimir Put

Contents:

• CRIMEA’S GAY COMMUNY MOV OUT AS RSIAN HOMOPHOBIA SETS IN
• CRIMEA'S GAY COMMUNY MOV OUT AS RSIAN HOMOPHOBIA SETS IN
• “PEOPLE ARE NOT COMG BACK TO THE CLOSET”: THE FIGHT FOR UKRAE IS ALSO A FIGHT FOR LGBTQ RIGHTSVLADIMIR PUT’S ASSLT ON LGBTQ RIGHTS MA HIM A HERO TO THE GLOBAL FAR RIGHT AND A PARIAH UKRAE. AS THE VASN ENTERS S SEND WEEK, QUEER UKRAIANS ARE FIGHTG BACK.BY J. LTER FERMARCH 4, 2022FACEBOOKTWTEREMAILSAVE STORYPORTRA OF OLENA SHEVCHENKO.COURTY OF OLENA SHEVCHENKO.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEON THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WAR, OLENA SHEVCHENKO POSTED A MSAGE OF SPAIR ON FACEBOOK.SHEVCHENKO, WHO LEADS THE LGBTQ ANIZATN INSIGHT, WAS NOT JT VOICG THE HEARTBREAK OF WATCHG HER CY STROYED, FEELG THE BOMB BLASTS DOWNTOWN KYIV. OR FEARG WHAT THE PROSPECT OF RSIAN OCCUPATN MIGHT MEAN FOR HER AND OTHER QUEER ACTIVISTS. IT SOUND LIKE SHE HAD LOST FAH, QUTNG WHETHER ALL THE TOOLS SHE HAD ED OVER YEARS OF FIGHTG FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS, UKRAIAN SELF-TERMATN, AND MOCRACY HAD PROVED FUTILE.“I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW OR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, THE ONLY THG I KNOW IS THAT THIS WORLD HAS BEEN FUCKED UP, TERNATNAL STCTUR ARE NOT EFFECTIVE,” SHE WROTE. “THERE IS NO SYSTEM THAT N STOP THIS SH.”LGBTQ PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AT THE CENTER OF THE TUG-OF-WAR OVER UKRAE’S FUTURE OM THE MOMENT VLADIMIR PUT LNCHED HIS CSA TO PRY OM EUROPE.I FIRST MET SHEVCHENKO THE FALL OF 2013, WHEN I ME TO KYIV TO WRE A STORY HEADLED “THE RSIAN PLOT TO TAKE BACK EASTERN EUROPE AT THE EXPENSE OF GAY RIGHTS.” THAT WAS A BIG MOMENT BOTH UKRAE AND RSIA. UKRAE WAS ON THE VERGE OF SIGNG A FORMAL POLIL-ASSOCIATN PACT WH THE E.U., A STEP PUT AND HIS ALLI UKRAE WERE DOG THEIR BT TO RAIL. RSIA WAS PREPARG FOR WEEKS THE TERNATNAL SPOTLIGHT WH THE OLYMPIC GAM SOCHI AROUND THE RNER. AND GLOBAL LGBTQ RIGHTS ADVOT HAD BEEN HAMMERG PUT FOR MONTHS, FOLLOWG RSIA’S ENACTMENT OF S SO-LLED “GAY PROPAGANDA LAW.”PEOPLE ATTEND THE ANNUAL KYIVPRI GAY PARA AS RT POLICE PROVI SECURY KYIV, UKRAE ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2021. LGBTQ PEOPLE, HUMAN RIGHT ACTIVISTS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS TOOK PART THE ANNUAL KYIV PRI GAY PARA EVENT AMID A HEAVY POLICE PRENCE, WHILE RIGHT-WG PROTTERS TRIED TO STOP THE EVENT. BY STR/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAG.AT FIRST THE KREML SEEMED SURPRISED THAT THE OUTSI WORLD RED SO MUCH ABOUT THE GAY PROPAGANDA LAW, WHICH TECHNILLY RTRICTED PROVIDG RMATN ABOUT “NONTRADNAL SEXUAL RELATNSHIPS” TO MORS. BUT PUT QUICKLY REGNIZED THE NTROVERSY AS AN OPPORTUNY. IT WAS A CHANCE TO GLOBALIZE A CULTURE WAR TO RSIA’S ADVANTAGE, PORTRAYG RSIA AS THE CHAMPN OF “TRADNAL VALU” A GLOBAL SHOWDOWN AGAST MOCRATIC WTERN NATNS THAT HAD LOST THE PLOT AN ENDLS QUT FOR “HUMAN RIGHTS.”UKRAE WAS ALREADY THE PROVG GROUND FOR THIS STRATEGY BY THE TIME I MET WH SHEVCHENKO THAT NOVEMBER.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHREMEMBERG SéAD O’CONNOR’S SUBLIME MIC AND RIGHTEO RAGEBY MIKE HOGANRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSH“NOW THE FIGHT [IS] BETWEEN EAST AND WT, RSIA AND EUROPE—UKRAE IS THE FIELD OF THE BATTLE,” SHE TOLD ME AT THE TIME.BILLBOARDS WENT UP ACROSS KYIV THAT FALL SAYG, “ASSOCIATN WH THE EU MEANS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,” FUND BY THE PUT-ALIGNED OLIGARCH VIKTOR MEDVEDCH. (MEDVEDCH WAS UNR HOE ARRT FOR CHARG OF TREASON WHEN RSIA VAD UKRAE. AN ADVISER FOR UKRAE’S TERR MISTRY SAID SUNDAY THAT HE’D PED, THOUGH MEDVEDCH’S LAWYER NIED THIS.) PROTTERS PICKETG AGAST CLOSER TI WH THE E.U. RRIED SIGNS SHOWG STICK FIGUR ENGAGED ANAL SEX AND CHANTED SLOGANS LIKE “V EVROPU CHEREZ ZHOPU,” A RSIAN RHYME THAT LERALLY TRANSLAT AS “GO TO EUROPE THROUGH THE ASS.”THIS FIGURATIVE BATTLE BEME A LERAL ONE AT LIGHTNG SPEED. UKRAE’S THEN PRINT, VIKTOR YANOVYCH, PULLED OUT OF TALKS WH THE E.U. TOWARD THE END OF NOVEMBER AND ANNOUNCED HIS TENTN TO JO RSIA’S CTOMS UNN STEAD. PROTTERS TRANSFORMED MAIDAN NEZALEZHNOSTI—INPENNCE SQUARE— THE HEART OF KYIV TO THE “EUROMAIDAN,” THE EPICENTER OF PROTTS THAT WERE EVENTUALLY ATTACKED BY RT POLICE. SHEVCHENKO WAS ON THE BARRIS, ANIZG WOMEN’S SELF-FENSE FORC, AND SHE CELEBRATED WHEN YANOVYCH WAS OTED 2014 AND REPLACED BY A PRO-EUROPEAN ERNMENT.WHEN RSIA VAD CRIMEA UKRAE’S SOUTH 2014 AND RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS LNCHED A WAR AGAST THE KYIV ERNMENT UKRAE’S EAST, INSIGHT AND OTHER LGBTQ ANIZATNS OPENED SHELTERS FOR PEOPLE FLEEG NFLICT. THE YEARS SCE HAVE NOT BEEN EASY FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS SUPPORTERS. THERE HAS BEEN SOME PROGRS: THE ERNMENT BARRED EMPLOYERS OM DISCRIMATG ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY, AND L WERE REFORMED TO MAKE EASIER FOR TRANSGENR PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR LEGAL STAT. BUT HATE CRIM ARE SADLY MON, AND LGBTQ EVENTS AND MUNY CENTERS HAVE EQUENTLY BEEN ATTACKED. A WOMEN’S MARCH SHEVCHENKO HELPED ANIZE WAS TARGETED BY FAR-RIGHT THUGS 2018, AND THE POLICE RPOND BY ARRTG HER.WHICH IS WHY WAS SIGNIFINT THAT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SHOUTED DOWN AN ANTI-LGBTQ HECKLER SEVERAL MONTHS TO HIS PRINCY 2019—SOMETHG THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD TO IMAGE FOR A PRINT YEARS EARLIER. HIS ERNMENT PROPOSED HATE CRIME LEGISLATN THAT VERED LGBTQ PEOPLE 2020.THE PERSEVERANCE OF UKRAE’S LGBTQ MOVEMENT WAS AN IMPORTANT SIGNAL THAT RSIA’S CULTURE WAR WAS FAILG ONE OF THE PLAC WHERE BEGAN. ACTIVISTS NEIGHBORG UNTRI HAVE BATTLED ATTACKS OM ANTI-LGBTQ POLICIANS, OFTEN PHED BY FORC ALIGNED WH THE KREML. OPPOSN TO LGBTQ RIGHTS HELPED FE AN ALLIANCE WH RSIANS CLOSE TO PUT AROUND THE WORLD, CLUDG THE UNED STAT—THIS IS PART OF WHAT DROVE MUCH OF THE SOCIAL-NSERVATIVE MOVEMENT THE UNED STAT TO EMBRACE PUT.“PUT DON’T THREATEN OUR NATNAL SECURY, OBAMA DO,” WROTE THE MUNITNS DIRECTOR OF A U.S.-BASED SOCIAL-NSERVATIVE ANIZATN A 2014 ARTICLE FENDG RSIA’S VASN OF CRIMEA.IF RSIA SUCCEEDS NQUERG UKRAE, LLS TO QUTN THE FUNDAMENTAL PRCIPL OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND MOCRACY UPON WHICH THE E.U. AND THE GLOBAL LGBTQ MOVEMENT HAVE BEEN BUILT. WHAT GOOD IS A OF BUILDG A HUMAN RIGHTS ASTCTURE OR WORKG TOWARD EUROPEAN TEGRATN WHEN BOMBS ARE FALLG ON YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OR PEOPLE NNOT BUY FOOD, OR A DISABLED PERSON N’T EVEN FD A WAY DOWN OM THEIR TOP-FLOOR APARTMENT TO FLEE THE FIGHTG?MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHREMEMBERG SéAD O’CONNOR’S SUBLIME MIC AND RIGHTEO RAGEBY MIKE HOGANRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSH“​​NOW ’S LIKE THE WHOLE TERNATNAL SYSTEM IS CRASHG,” SHEVCHENKO TOLD ME. AND UKRAE, AS WE’VE SEEN AFGHANISTAN, SYRIA, AND UNTLS OTHER NFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD, LGBTQ PEOPLE AND OTHER MARGALIZED GROUPS FACE SPECIAL VULNERABILI GETTG TO SAFETY. EARLIER THIS WEEK, ARMED MEN BROKE TO THE OFFIC OF THE LGBTQ ANIZATN NASH MIR, BEATG FOUR ACTIVISTS SHELTERG THERE.MANY QUEER UKRAIANS ARE SERVG THE UKRAIAN ARY, BUT MANY TRANS PEOPLE—WHO ARE ELLIGIBLE FOR A MEDIL EXEMPTN OM THE ORR THAT ALL MEN AG 18-60 REMA THE UNTRY—ARE BEG BLOCKED AT THE BORR BY UKRAIAN OFFICIALS WHO SEE AN “M” ON THEIR OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, ACRDG TO REPORTS OM MANY NGOS ASSISTG THEM.QUEER MUNI NEIGHBORG UNTRI HAVE MOBILIZED TO HELP UKRAIANS FLEEG NFLICT—RAISG FUNDS, SETTG UP SHELTERS, TRYG TO TROUBLHOOT PROBLEMS AT THE BORR. BUT LGBTQ PEOPLE’S RIGHTS HAVE BEEN UNR ATTACK SEVERAL OF UKRAE’S NEIGHBORG UNTRI, AND THERE IS A PALPABLE FEAR THAT THE SUATN ULD GROW WORSE IF RSIA EXPANDS S AMBNS.AND LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ARE EPLY NCERNED FOR QUEER FOLKS RSIA, WHERE THERE IS A GROWG EXPECTATN THAT PUT WILL IMPOSE SOME SORT OF MARTIAL LAW AND THEY WILL BE HUNTED ALONG WH OTHER OPPONENTS OF HIS REGIME.“WE’RE WORKG TO SHELTER REFUGE WHILE WORRYG ABOUT BEG REFUGE OURSELV,” SAID ONE ACTIVIST MOLDOVA, WHERE RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS HAVE CLAIMED PENNCE FOR A REGN ALONG UKRAE’S SOUTHWTERN BORR. “IT’S JT TWO HOURS FOR RSIAN TROOPS TO REACH OUR PAL.”FOR NOW, KYIV STANDS. THOUGH A LN UKRAIANS ARE TIMATED TO HAVE FLED THE FIGHTG, SOME 42 LN PEOPLE REMA; MANY LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ARE STAYG TO FIGHT, AND SOME WHO WERE ABROAD ARE RETURNG.ONE OF THOSE IS LENNY EMSON, DIRECTOR OF KYIV PRI, WHO WAS OUTSI THE UNTRY WHEN FIGHTG BEGAN.“WE’RE HELPG EACH OTHER, WE’RE STAYG TOGETHER…PEOPLE ARE NOT G BACK TO THE CLOSET,” EMSON TOLD ME THURSDAY WHILE MAKG PLANS TO GO BACK. “WE’RE NTUG TO FIGHT. SO FOR RIGHT NOW, THE QUTN IS HOW TO SURVIVE—THE QUTN IS HOW TO KEEP OUR PEOPLE ALIVE.”AND SHEVCHENKO IS STILL HER APARTMENT NEAR KYIV’S CENTRAL STATN, WHERE THOANDS OF PANICKED CIVILIANS HAVE HAD TO FIGHT THEIR WAY ONTO TRAS. SHEVCHENKO TOLD ME SHE HAS NO PLANS TO LEAVE— FACT, MOST OF HER TEAM IS STAYG, NOT JT KYIV BUT THROUGHOUT UKRAE. AND THAT’S TE FOR MANY LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ON THE GROUND.“I WILL STAY,” SHEVCHENKO SAID, ORR TO KEEP ASSISTG WHERE SHE N AND FIGHT IF SHE MT.WHEN I ASKED HER WHY SHE HADN’T MA A PLAN TO PE SHOULD KYIV FALL, SHE SAID, “BEE SOMEBODY NEEDS TO STAY.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR       — ​​IMAG OF RSIA’S ATTACK ON UKRAE—TMP CALLS PUT’S UKRAE MOV “GENI” BEE HE HAT DEMOCRACY— THE ZUCKER-CUOMO SAGA JT GOT EVEN MSIER— WHY BIN WANTED AMERINS TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT PUT WAS PLANNG— IT’S BEEN A HELL OF A WEEK FOR LETIA JAM— “IF UKRAE MATTERS, TELL US WHY”: JOE BIN IS TALKG TO EVERYONE EXCEPT THE AMERIN PEOPLE— REPUBLINS ON RSIA CRISIS: IT’S BIN’S FLT— THIEV THE NIGHT: A VAST BURGLARY RG FROM CHILE HAS BEEN TARGETG WEALTHY U.S. HOEHOLDS— WATERGATE’S CENTRAL MYSTERY: WHY DID NIXON’S TEAM ORR THE BREAK-IN THE FIRST PLACE?— FROM THE ARCHIVE: RSIA’S DARK MASTER— NOT A SUBSCRIBER? JO VANY FAIR TO RECEIVE FULL ACCS TO AND THE PLETE ONLE ARCHIVE NOW.J. LTER FER
• CRIMEA DO NOT NEED GAY PEOPLE, SAYS TOP OFFICIAL
• “NO PLACE FOR GAYS PUT’S CRIMEA”
• UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT
• CRIMEA: GAY WOMAN ‘FEARFUL’ OF LIFE UNR RSIA
• CRIMEA'S GAY COMMUNY FEARS FOR LIFE UNR RSIA
• PUT’S CRIMEA IS A BIG ANTI-GAY CASOCRISIS UKRAEAS FIGHTG RUM EASTERN UKRAE, THE CRIMEAN EXAMPLE OFFERS A BTER TASTE OF RSIA’S MAKHIFT PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.ANNA NEMTSOVAUPDATED APR. 14, 2017 2:53PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 08, 2014 5:45AM EDT VLADIMIR KONSTANTOV/RTERSYALTA, CRIMEA — THE TOWN OF SIMEIZ, ONCE A FAVORE VATN SPOT FOR UKRAIAN GAYS AND “HIPPI,” LOST MOST OF S EE-SPIRED VISORS THIS YEAR. ON A RECENT WEEKEND, NO KISSG UPL WERE TO BE SEEN ON THE SHAD BENCH OF APOLLO ALLEY, KNOWN AMONG LOLS AS THE ALLEY OF NAKED MEN BEE OF THE WHE STATU OF NU GREEK GODS. VERY FEW PEOPLE SUNBATHED ON SIMEIZ’S FAMOLY PICTURQUE BEACH, WHERE SPECTACULAR ROCKS RISE OUT OF GEO TURQUOISE WATER; AND AT SUNSET, NO NEW-AGE HIPSTERS HUNG OUT AROUND THE GRACEFUL ARCHECTURAL MONUMENT LLED DREAM VILLA, WHICH WAS AN OVERCROWD HOTSPOT ONLY LAST YEAR. AS FEARED, THE NEARBY PROVC OF EASTERN UKRAE, WHERE REBELS BACKED BY THE KREML’S TROOPS ARE FIGHTG TO FOLLOW CRIMEA TO THE ARMS OF THE MOTHER RSIA, A CEASEFIRE SIGNED ONLY DAYS AGO ALREADY IS BREAKG DOWN. UKRAIAN PRINT PETRO POROSHENKO HAD PULATED TO ALMOST ALL OF RSIAN PRINT VLADIMIR PUT’S MANDS, BUT THAT DON'T SEEM TO HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. AS THE UNED STAT AND THE EUROPEAN UNN MOVE TO TIGHTEN SANCTNS ON MOSW, AND T-LED FFS ARE SENT BACK TO KIEV AND TO RSIA GROWG NUMBERS, WHAT’S HAPPENED CRIMEA SCE S ANNEXATN MARCH DO NOT LOOK VERY PROMISG. UNLIKE THE DREARY DTRIAL REGN OF DONBASS WHERE THE FIGHTG IS NCENTRATED, CRIMEA HAS GREAT POTENTIAL AS A TOURIST CENTER. BUT FOR WHAT KD OF TOURISTS, AND OM WHERE? TODAY, THE MIDST OF THE WAR, WHAT PATRTIC UKRAIAN WOULD VATN ON AN ANNEXED BEACH? AND EVEN RSIAN-SUBSIDIZED PROGRAMS HAVE NOT BROUGHT NEARLY AS MANY VISORS TO CRIMEA AS BEFORE THE CRIS. SIMEIZ, FAMO FOR S SPLASHY PARTI AND CROWD CLUBS, LOOKED SERTED. “UKRAIANS GENERAL AND PECIALLY GAY GUYS DON’T FEEL SAFE G HERE, BEE OF RSIAN ANTI-GAY LAWS,” ALEKSEI, A JEWELER SIMEIZ, TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “MAKG A SHOW OF LOVG THE RSIANS DO NOT HELP ANY LONGER—EVERY BS CRIMEA IS LOSG MONEY.” CRIMEA’S GAY POPULATN, WHICH SOME ONLE FOMS TIMATED AT OVER 10,000, FAC MOUNTG SECURY. THE “PRIME MISTER” ON THE BLACK SEA PENSULA, SERGEY AKSYONOV, HAS ANNOUNCED THAT “SEXUAL MORI WILL NEVER BE ALLOWED PUBLIC EVENTS CRIMEA.” HE PROMISED THAT POLICE WOULD ACT QUICKLY TO STOP THEM. “AUTHORI WILL NEVER SUPPORT THEM,” HE SAID.SO, STEAD OF THE FTIVE RABOW CULTURE OF ROCK AND ROLL, ELECTRONIC MIC, PSYCHELIA AND OTERI, RSIAN-N CRIMEA WILL OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE: GAMBLG. LAST APRIL, SHORTLY AFTER ANNEXATN, THE DUMA VOTED FOR THE LAW ALLOWG GAMG ZON CRIMEA. DO THE ETHOS OF THE ROULETTE WHEEL AND ONE-ARMED BANDS MATCH THE PROFSED NSERVATIVE RSIAN ORTHODOX RELIG VALU AND IOLOGY OF NOVOROSSIYA, THE NEW ADMISTRATIVE AREA THAT THE KREML IS RVG OUT OF UKRAE AT A HUGE ST? IS GAMBLG CULTURE MORE SIRABLE THAN GAY CULTURE AND UNTERCULTURE? ONE OF NOVOROSSIYA’S BIGGT ADVOT, IGOR DZ, SEEMS TO SEE AN EQUALLY NEGATIVE LIGHT. WHEN DZ VISED CRIMEA BEFORE, HE SAID, HE FELT DISTURBED BY THE BCHED ATMOSPHERE. DZ HAS EVEN SUPPORTED A BAN ON CURSG NOVOROSSIYA, WHOSE MISSN, HIS VIEW, IS TO FIGHT AGAST “DIRT, OCCULTISM AND FASCISM KIEV.” HE SAYS TRODUCG A SO CRIMEA IS TO “SP THE FACE OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE EPLY ORTHODOX VALU.” CRIMEA, WHERE ONE N FD BOOZE ANY TIME OF THE NIGHT, IS FAR OM THE IALS OF A RSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTERY, BUT WH SOS G TO THE PENSULA WILL LIKELY NTUE S DANCE WH A NEW VIL. “IT IS HARD TO BEAT THE ENEMY IF YOU YOURSELF SUFFER OM HIS SS,” SAYS DZ.AT THIS POT, HOWEVER, SOS ARE A MATTER OF SURVIVAL. THE PENSULA, WH A POPULATN OF OVER 2 LN PEOPLE, DO NOT HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE. THIS YEAR THE “VELVET SEASON,” AS THE END OF THE SUMMER TOURIST SH IS KNOWN HERE, ALSO MARKED THE BEGNG OF A FOOD CRISIS AND ELECTRICY BLACKOUTS. MILK PRODUCTS NORMALLY LIVERED OM UKRAE DISAPPEARED OM GROCERY STOR AND THE PRIC OF GOODS LIVERED OM RSIA ARE “BG,” LOLS PLAED. ONE RECENT MONDAY MORNG CRIMEA WOKE UP TO FD THAT UKRAE HAD CUT THE ELECTRIC POWER BY TWO-THIRDS. “THE PHORIA WE HAD WHEN WE VOTED AT THE REFERENDUM TO JO RSIA IS FADG AWAY, AS WE ARE LOSG MONEY, AND FEELG SRED OF BEG LEFT WHOUT UKRAIAN GAS AND ELECTRICY THIS WTER,” SAYS ANTON BARANCHIKOV, A YOUNG ENTREPRENR.LAST WTER, PUT WAS REJECTG THE IA OF OPENGS SOS CRIMEA, BUT BY LATE JULY HE HAD SIGNED TO THE LAW THE DUMA LEGISLATN ABOUT GAMBLG ZON. “WH THE RSIAN ENOMY SUFFERG OM SANCTNS AND CREASG UNEMPLOYMENT, THE ONLY WAY PUT ULD VER CRIMEA EXPENS WAS TO CREATE THE BIGGT GAMBLG CENTER RSIA,” FORMER DUMA PUTY AND OPPOSN LEAR GENNADY GUDKOV TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “BUT THE OTHER SI OF THE WOULD BE, EVABLY, THE FLOWERG OF CRIME AND RPTN AROUND THE GAMBLG BS.” BY JUNE, THE RSIAN CRIMEA MISTRY HAD TO CUT THE BUDGET FOR TURNG THE PENSULA TO A SUPPOSED RORT PARADISE BY 38.5 PERCENT, OM $29.4 BILLN DOWN TO $18.2 BILLN. ABOUT $10 BILLN WAS EARMARKED TO BUILD A BRIDGE ACROSS THE KERCH STRA, WH S UNPREDICTABLE CURRENTS DURG SPRG FLOODS. (AT PRENT THERE IS NO LAND ROUTE AVAILABLE BETWEEN RSIA AND CRIMEA, SCE THE OLD ON ALL GO THROUGH A PART OF UKRAE WHERE, NOT CINTALLY, THE LAST MONTH HAS SEEN TENSE FIGHTG.) BY SEPTEMBER, RSIAN THORI AGREED TO FE THE BOUNDARI OF ABOUT 500 ACR OUTSI YALTA, A HISTORIL AND CULTURAL CENTER OF CRIMEA, WHICH WILL BEE THE GAMG ZONE. YALTA WAS GREAT FOR STROLLS ALONG THE SEA DURG THE BYZANTE, OTTOMAN AND RSIAN EMPIR. NICHOLAS II, THE LAST ROMANOV, BUILT THE GRACEFUL LIVADIA PALACE ON TOP OF A HILL THERE. THE WORLD KNOWS ABOUT MALY BEE OF THE 1944 MEETG BETWEEN JOSEPH STAL, WSTON CHURCHILL, AND FRANKL ROOSEVELT AS THE END OF WORLD WAR II APPROACHED. NO SUCH MOMENTO ENUNTERS HAVE BEEN HELD THERE RECENTLY, BUT LAST MONTH PUT DID RECEIVE A FRENCH POLICIAN AND BSMAN, PHILIPPE VILLIERS, AT THE LIVADIA PALACE. HE HOSTED HIM THE ONE-TIME OFFICE OF TSAR NICHOLAS II THAT OVERLOOKS A TROPIL GARN AND THE BLACK SEA. MONSIR VILLIERS, AN OSTENTATLY RELIG NSERVATIVE AND FAILED FORMER FRENCH PRINTIAL NDIDATE, PROMISED TO BUILD AN AMEMENT PARK ANNEXED CRIMEA. WHAT FUN. ANNA NEMTSOVA

CRIMEA’S GAY COMMUNY MOV OUT AS RSIAN HOMOPHOBIA SETS IN

For the gay muny Crimea, the most worryg piece of legislatn was the Rsian ban on “homosexual propaganda, ” which Put signed 2012.

Although the law is billed as an effort to protect Rsian children om learng about “non-tradnal sexual relatnships, ” s crics say the law enurag homophobia, signalg to Rsians that gays are somehow ferr and should not be allowed to sist on their equaly public. The head of the regnal ernment, Sergei Aksyonov, said that the Wt’s liberal attu toward gay rights would be “tolerable and unacceptable” on his pensula durg a meetg wh his misters last month. “In Crimea we don’t wele such people, we don’t need them, ” he said, referrg to homosexuals.

Through their patrons om Cy Hall, the bar’s owners learned that “someone had whispered to the new learship that they have a gay bar stg right unrneath them, ” says Gkov. Not only are the pair among the most open of Sevastopol’s chronilly closeted gays, but Gkov and Zchenko have a two-year-old son, Timur, om a surrogate mother. But the regn’s gay men and women have also been movg away, as much out of prott at the annexatn as out of a fear of beg the targets of a state-backed mpaign of homophobia.

CRIMEA'S GAY COMMUNY MOV OUT AS RSIAN HOMOPHOBIA SETS IN

“When beme clear that Rsia needs to prepare for isolatn om Europe, need to smear the Europeans somehow, and the simplt is to spread this ia of perverted, nt Gayropeans, ” he says, g the rogatory term for Europeans—”Gayropeytsy”—that has entered the Rsian vernacular.

“PEOPLE ARE NOT COMG BACK TO THE CLOSET”: THE FIGHT FOR UKRAE IS ALSO A FIGHT FOR LGBTQ RIGHTSVLADIMIR PUT’S ASSLT ON LGBTQ RIGHTS MA HIM A HERO TO THE GLOBAL FAR RIGHT AND A PARIAH UKRAE. AS THE VASN ENTERS S SEND WEEK, QUEER UKRAIANS ARE FIGHTG BACK.BY J. LTER FERMARCH 4, 2022FACEBOOKTWTEREMAILSAVE STORYPORTRA OF OLENA SHEVCHENKO.COURTY OF OLENA SHEVCHENKO.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEON THE SEVENTH DAY OF THE WAR, OLENA SHEVCHENKO POSTED A MSAGE OF SPAIR ON FACEBOOK.SHEVCHENKO, WHO LEADS THE LGBTQ ANIZATN INSIGHT, WAS NOT JT VOICG THE HEARTBREAK OF WATCHG HER CY STROYED, FEELG THE BOMB BLASTS DOWNTOWN KYIV. OR FEARG WHAT THE PROSPECT OF RSIAN OCCUPATN MIGHT MEAN FOR HER AND OTHER QUEER ACTIVISTS. IT SOUND LIKE SHE HAD LOST FAH, QUTNG WHETHER ALL THE TOOLS SHE HAD ED OVER YEARS OF FIGHTG FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS, UKRAIAN SELF-TERMATN, AND MOCRACY HAD PROVED FUTILE.“I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN TOMORROW OR THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, THE ONLY THG I KNOW IS THAT THIS WORLD HAS BEEN FUCKED UP, TERNATNAL STCTUR ARE NOT EFFECTIVE,” SHE WROTE. “THERE IS NO SYSTEM THAT N STOP THIS SH.”LGBTQ PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AT THE CENTER OF THE TUG-OF-WAR OVER UKRAE’S FUTURE OM THE MOMENT VLADIMIR PUT LNCHED HIS CSA TO PRY OM EUROPE.I FIRST MET SHEVCHENKO THE FALL OF 2013, WHEN I ME TO KYIV TO WRE A STORY HEADLED “THE RSIAN PLOT TO TAKE BACK EASTERN EUROPE AT THE EXPENSE OF GAY RIGHTS.” THAT WAS A BIG MOMENT BOTH UKRAE AND RSIA. UKRAE WAS ON THE VERGE OF SIGNG A FORMAL POLIL-ASSOCIATN PACT WH THE E.U., A STEP PUT AND HIS ALLI UKRAE WERE DOG THEIR BT TO RAIL. RSIA WAS PREPARG FOR WEEKS THE TERNATNAL SPOTLIGHT WH THE OLYMPIC GAM SOCHI AROUND THE RNER. AND GLOBAL LGBTQ RIGHTS ADVOT HAD BEEN HAMMERG PUT FOR MONTHS, FOLLOWG RSIA’S ENACTMENT OF S SO-LLED “GAY PROPAGANDA LAW.”PEOPLE ATTEND THE ANNUAL KYIVPRI GAY PARA AS RT POLICE PROVI SECURY KYIV, UKRAE ON 19 SEPTEMBER 2021. LGBTQ PEOPLE, HUMAN RIGHT ACTIVISTS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS TOOK PART THE ANNUAL KYIV PRI GAY PARA EVENT AMID A HEAVY POLICE PRENCE, WHILE RIGHT-WG PROTTERS TRIED TO STOP THE EVENT. BY STR/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAG.AT FIRST THE KREML SEEMED SURPRISED THAT THE OUTSI WORLD RED SO MUCH ABOUT THE GAY PROPAGANDA LAW, WHICH TECHNILLY RTRICTED PROVIDG RMATN ABOUT “NONTRADNAL SEXUAL RELATNSHIPS” TO MORS. BUT PUT QUICKLY REGNIZED THE NTROVERSY AS AN OPPORTUNY. IT WAS A CHANCE TO GLOBALIZE A CULTURE WAR TO RSIA’S ADVANTAGE, PORTRAYG RSIA AS THE CHAMPN OF “TRADNAL VALU” A GLOBAL SHOWDOWN AGAST MOCRATIC WTERN NATNS THAT HAD LOST THE PLOT AN ENDLS QUT FOR “HUMAN RIGHTS.”UKRAE WAS ALREADY THE PROVG GROUND FOR THIS STRATEGY BY THE TIME I MET WH SHEVCHENKO THAT NOVEMBER.MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHREMEMBERG SéAD O’CONNOR’S SUBLIME MIC AND RIGHTEO RAGEBY MIKE HOGANRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSH“NOW THE FIGHT [IS] BETWEEN EAST AND WT, RSIA AND EUROPE—UKRAE IS THE FIELD OF THE BATTLE,” SHE TOLD ME AT THE TIME.BILLBOARDS WENT UP ACROSS KYIV THAT FALL SAYG, “ASSOCIATN WH THE EU MEANS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE,” FUND BY THE PUT-ALIGNED OLIGARCH VIKTOR MEDVEDCH. (MEDVEDCH WAS UNR HOE ARRT FOR CHARG OF TREASON WHEN RSIA VAD UKRAE. AN ADVISER FOR UKRAE’S TERR MISTRY SAID SUNDAY THAT HE’D PED, THOUGH MEDVEDCH’S LAWYER NIED THIS.) PROTTERS PICKETG AGAST CLOSER TI WH THE E.U. RRIED SIGNS SHOWG STICK FIGUR ENGAGED ANAL SEX AND CHANTED SLOGANS LIKE “V EVROPU CHEREZ ZHOPU,” A RSIAN RHYME THAT LERALLY TRANSLAT AS “GO TO EUROPE THROUGH THE ASS.”THIS FIGURATIVE BATTLE BEME A LERAL ONE AT LIGHTNG SPEED. UKRAE’S THEN PRINT, VIKTOR YANOVYCH, PULLED OUT OF TALKS WH THE E.U. TOWARD THE END OF NOVEMBER AND ANNOUNCED HIS TENTN TO JO RSIA’S CTOMS UNN STEAD. PROTTERS TRANSFORMED MAIDAN NEZALEZHNOSTI—INPENNCE SQUARE— THE HEART OF KYIV TO THE “EUROMAIDAN,” THE EPICENTER OF PROTTS THAT WERE EVENTUALLY ATTACKED BY RT POLICE. SHEVCHENKO WAS ON THE BARRIS, ANIZG WOMEN’S SELF-FENSE FORC, AND SHE CELEBRATED WHEN YANOVYCH WAS OTED 2014 AND REPLACED BY A PRO-EUROPEAN ERNMENT.WHEN RSIA VAD CRIMEA UKRAE’S SOUTH 2014 AND RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS LNCHED A WAR AGAST THE KYIV ERNMENT UKRAE’S EAST, INSIGHT AND OTHER LGBTQ ANIZATNS OPENED SHELTERS FOR PEOPLE FLEEG NFLICT. THE YEARS SCE HAVE NOT BEEN EASY FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS SUPPORTERS. THERE HAS BEEN SOME PROGRS: THE ERNMENT BARRED EMPLOYERS OM DISCRIMATG ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN AND GENR INTY, AND L WERE REFORMED TO MAKE EASIER FOR TRANSGENR PEOPLE TO CHANGE THEIR LEGAL STAT. BUT HATE CRIM ARE SADLY MON, AND LGBTQ EVENTS AND MUNY CENTERS HAVE EQUENTLY BEEN ATTACKED. A WOMEN’S MARCH SHEVCHENKO HELPED ANIZE WAS TARGETED BY FAR-RIGHT THUGS 2018, AND THE POLICE RPOND BY ARRTG HER.WHICH IS WHY WAS SIGNIFINT THAT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SHOUTED DOWN AN ANTI-LGBTQ HECKLER SEVERAL MONTHS TO HIS PRINCY 2019—SOMETHG THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD TO IMAGE FOR A PRINT YEARS EARLIER. HIS ERNMENT PROPOSED HATE CRIME LEGISLATN THAT VERED LGBTQ PEOPLE 2020.THE PERSEVERANCE OF UKRAE’S LGBTQ MOVEMENT WAS AN IMPORTANT SIGNAL THAT RSIA’S CULTURE WAR WAS FAILG ONE OF THE PLAC WHERE BEGAN. ACTIVISTS NEIGHBORG UNTRI HAVE BATTLED ATTACKS OM ANTI-LGBTQ POLICIANS, OFTEN PHED BY FORC ALIGNED WH THE KREML. OPPOSN TO LGBTQ RIGHTS HELPED FE AN ALLIANCE WH RSIANS CLOSE TO PUT AROUND THE WORLD, CLUDG THE UNED STAT—THIS IS PART OF WHAT DROVE MUCH OF THE SOCIAL-NSERVATIVE MOVEMENT THE UNED STAT TO EMBRACE PUT.“PUT DON’T THREATEN OUR NATNAL SECURY, OBAMA DO,” WROTE THE MUNITNS DIRECTOR OF A U.S.-BASED SOCIAL-NSERVATIVE ANIZATN A 2014 ARTICLE FENDG RSIA’S VASN OF CRIMEA.IF RSIA SUCCEEDS NQUERG UKRAE, LLS TO QUTN THE FUNDAMENTAL PRCIPL OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND MOCRACY UPON WHICH THE E.U. AND THE GLOBAL LGBTQ MOVEMENT HAVE BEEN BUILT. WHAT GOOD IS A OF BUILDG A HUMAN RIGHTS ASTCTURE OR WORKG TOWARD EUROPEAN TEGRATN WHEN BOMBS ARE FALLG ON YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OR PEOPLE NNOT BUY FOOD, OR A DISABLED PERSON N’T EVEN FD A WAY DOWN OM THEIR TOP-FLOOR APARTMENT TO FLEE THE FIGHTG?MOST POPULARVANY FAIR’S “IT’S RAG TEENS” COVER AT 20: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?BY SAVANNAH WALSHREMEMBERG SéAD O’CONNOR’S SUBLIME MIC AND RIGHTEO RAGEBY MIKE HOGANRED, WHE & ROYAL BLUE MAY BE “THE MOST EXPENSIVE B OF FAN FICTN EVER”BY SAVANNAH WALSH“​​NOW ’S LIKE THE WHOLE TERNATNAL SYSTEM IS CRASHG,” SHEVCHENKO TOLD ME. AND UKRAE, AS WE’VE SEEN AFGHANISTAN, SYRIA, AND UNTLS OTHER NFLICTS AROUND THE WORLD, LGBTQ PEOPLE AND OTHER MARGALIZED GROUPS FACE SPECIAL VULNERABILI GETTG TO SAFETY. EARLIER THIS WEEK, ARMED MEN BROKE TO THE OFFIC OF THE LGBTQ ANIZATN NASH MIR, BEATG FOUR ACTIVISTS SHELTERG THERE.MANY QUEER UKRAIANS ARE SERVG THE UKRAIAN ARY, BUT MANY TRANS PEOPLE—WHO ARE ELLIGIBLE FOR A MEDIL EXEMPTN OM THE ORR THAT ALL MEN AG 18-60 REMA THE UNTRY—ARE BEG BLOCKED AT THE BORR BY UKRAIAN OFFICIALS WHO SEE AN “M” ON THEIR OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, ACRDG TO REPORTS OM MANY NGOS ASSISTG THEM.QUEER MUNI NEIGHBORG UNTRI HAVE MOBILIZED TO HELP UKRAIANS FLEEG NFLICT—RAISG FUNDS, SETTG UP SHELTERS, TRYG TO TROUBLHOOT PROBLEMS AT THE BORR. BUT LGBTQ PEOPLE’S RIGHTS HAVE BEEN UNR ATTACK SEVERAL OF UKRAE’S NEIGHBORG UNTRI, AND THERE IS A PALPABLE FEAR THAT THE SUATN ULD GROW WORSE IF RSIA EXPANDS S AMBNS.AND LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ARE EPLY NCERNED FOR QUEER FOLKS RSIA, WHERE THERE IS A GROWG EXPECTATN THAT PUT WILL IMPOSE SOME SORT OF MARTIAL LAW AND THEY WILL BE HUNTED ALONG WH OTHER OPPONENTS OF HIS REGIME.“WE’RE WORKG TO SHELTER REFUGE WHILE WORRYG ABOUT BEG REFUGE OURSELV,” SAID ONE ACTIVIST MOLDOVA, WHERE RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS HAVE CLAIMED PENNCE FOR A REGN ALONG UKRAE’S SOUTHWTERN BORR. “IT’S JT TWO HOURS FOR RSIAN TROOPS TO REACH OUR PAL.”FOR NOW, KYIV STANDS. THOUGH A LN UKRAIANS ARE TIMATED TO HAVE FLED THE FIGHTG, SOME 42 LN PEOPLE REMA; MANY LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ARE STAYG TO FIGHT, AND SOME WHO WERE ABROAD ARE RETURNG.ONE OF THOSE IS LENNY EMSON, DIRECTOR OF KYIV PRI, WHO WAS OUTSI THE UNTRY WHEN FIGHTG BEGAN.“WE’RE HELPG EACH OTHER, WE’RE STAYG TOGETHER…PEOPLE ARE NOT G BACK TO THE CLOSET,” EMSON TOLD ME THURSDAY WHILE MAKG PLANS TO GO BACK. “WE’RE NTUG TO FIGHT. SO FOR RIGHT NOW, THE QUTN IS HOW TO SURVIVE—THE QUTN IS HOW TO KEEP OUR PEOPLE ALIVE.”AND SHEVCHENKO IS STILL HER APARTMENT NEAR KYIV’S CENTRAL STATN, WHERE THOANDS OF PANICKED CIVILIANS HAVE HAD TO FIGHT THEIR WAY ONTO TRAS. SHEVCHENKO TOLD ME SHE HAS NO PLANS TO LEAVE— FACT, MOST OF HER TEAM IS STAYG, NOT JT KYIV BUT THROUGHOUT UKRAE. AND THAT’S TE FOR MANY LGBTQ ACTIVISTS ON THE GROUND.“I WILL STAY,” SHEVCHENKO SAID, ORR TO KEEP ASSISTG WHERE SHE N AND FIGHT IF SHE MT.WHEN I ASKED HER WHY SHE HADN’T MA A PLAN TO PE SHOULD KYIV FALL, SHE SAID, “BEE SOMEBODY NEEDS TO STAY.”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIR       — ​​IMAG OF RSIA’S ATTACK ON UKRAE—TMP CALLS PUT’S UKRAE MOV “GENI” BEE HE HAT DEMOCRACY— THE ZUCKER-CUOMO SAGA JT GOT EVEN MSIER— WHY BIN WANTED AMERINS TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT PUT WAS PLANNG— IT’S BEEN A HELL OF A WEEK FOR LETIA JAM— “IF UKRAE MATTERS, TELL US WHY”: JOE BIN IS TALKG TO EVERYONE EXCEPT THE AMERIN PEOPLE— REPUBLINS ON RSIA CRISIS: IT’S BIN’S FLT— THIEV THE NIGHT: A VAST BURGLARY RG FROM CHILE HAS BEEN TARGETG WEALTHY U.S. HOEHOLDS— WATERGATE’S CENTRAL MYSTERY: WHY DID NIXON’S TEAM ORR THE BREAK-IN THE FIRST PLACE?— FROM THE ARCHIVE: RSIA’S DARK MASTER— NOT A SUBSCRIBER? JO VANY FAIR TO RECEIVE FULL ACCS TO AND THE PLETE ONLE ARCHIVE NOW.J. LTER FER

” As they make their new home the pal, they’re thkg of openg up a new Qbar, which will have to al wh a lot more petn Kiev’s vibrant gay scene. Read next: What the Vatin Really Said About Homosexualy Contact at.

I first met Shevchenko the fall of 2013, when I me to Kyiv to wre a story headled “The Rsian Plot to Take Back Eastern Europe at the Expense of Gay Rights.

And global LGBTQ rights advot had been hammerg Put for months, followg Rsia’s enactment of s so-lled “gay propaganda law.

CRIMEA DO NOT NEED GAY PEOPLE, SAYS TOP OFFICIAL

”People attend the annual KyivPri gay para as rt police provi secury Kyiv, Ukrae on 19 September 2021. LGBTQ people, human right activists and their supporters took part the annual Kyiv Pri gay para event amid a heavy police prence, while right-wg protters tried to stop the event.

“NO PLACE FOR GAYS PUT’S CRIMEA”

By STR/NurPhoto/Getty first the Kreml seemed surprised that the outsi world red so much about the gay propaganda law, which technilly rtricted providg rmatn about “nontradnal sexual relatnships” to mors. Speakg about gay people durg a Crimean ernment ssn on Tuday, the regn’s facto lear Sergei Aksyonov said “we Crimea do not need such people. Print Vladimir Put signed an anti-gay law last year that banned activi that uld be seen as promotg homosexualy to mors, which was adopted Crimea this year.

Wtern ernments and activists said curtails gay rights and enurag discrimatn.

UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT

A gay pri event that had been due to take place Sevastopol April was ncelled. Lols say ’s the last gay bar on the pensula.

Over the past four and a half years of occupatn, Rsian-state-sponsored homophobia has led to a rise vlence, closur of gay-iendly venu and the mise of activism—cripplg the pensula’s queer muny.

For more than two s, was a renowned statn for the gay muny, s shows drawg hundreds of tourists om across the former Soviet Unn and beyond. For a uple of years they had n the gay-iendly Hotel Friends Sevastopol, even though they were based Mosw.

CRIMEA: GAY WOMAN ‘FEARFUL’ OF LIFE UNR RSIA

But fally the opprsive atmosphere generated by Print Vladimir Put’s homophobic polici, which played on and exploed the worst stcts Rsian society, were jt too much for them to and Volodya spent their wter holiday Kiev durg the revolutnary Maidan protts.

Outsi a Kiev gay club 2014 the pair watched patrons approach a drag queen for photos, and thought back to Mosw. Mosw’s occupatn meant Rsian laws would now be imposed Crimea, cludg the highly ntroversial “anti-gay propaganda” legislatn, which was adopted by the ernment 2013 to ban “the promotn of non-tradnal relatnships” to mors.

But Crimea’s Rsia-ntrolled thori only fueled the Kreml’s state-sponsored homophobia.

CRIMEA'S GAY COMMUNY FEARS FOR LIFE UNR RSIA

Followg the occupatn, that September the pensula’s facto lear, Sergei Aksyonov, announced that Crimea didn’t need gay people and they would not be allowed to hold public events.

PUT’S CRIMEA IS A BIG ANTI-GAY CASOCRISIS UKRAEAS FIGHTG RUM EASTERN UKRAE, THE CRIMEAN EXAMPLE OFFERS A BTER TASTE OF RSIA’S MAKHIFT PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.ANNA NEMTSOVAUPDATED APR. 14, 2017 2:53PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 08, 2014 5:45AM EDT VLADIMIR KONSTANTOV/RTERSYALTA, CRIMEA — THE TOWN OF SIMEIZ, ONCE A FAVORE VATN SPOT FOR UKRAIAN GAYS AND “HIPPI,” LOST MOST OF S EE-SPIRED VISORS THIS YEAR. ON A RECENT WEEKEND, NO KISSG UPL WERE TO BE SEEN ON THE SHAD BENCH OF APOLLO ALLEY, KNOWN AMONG LOLS AS THE ALLEY OF NAKED MEN BEE OF THE WHE STATU OF NU GREEK GODS. VERY FEW PEOPLE SUNBATHED ON SIMEIZ’S FAMOLY PICTURQUE BEACH, WHERE SPECTACULAR ROCKS RISE OUT OF GEO TURQUOISE WATER; AND AT SUNSET, NO NEW-AGE HIPSTERS HUNG OUT AROUND THE GRACEFUL ARCHECTURAL MONUMENT LLED DREAM VILLA, WHICH WAS AN OVERCROWD HOTSPOT ONLY LAST YEAR. AS FEARED, THE NEARBY PROVC OF EASTERN UKRAE, WHERE REBELS BACKED BY THE KREML’S TROOPS ARE FIGHTG TO FOLLOW CRIMEA TO THE ARMS OF THE MOTHER RSIA, A CEASEFIRE SIGNED ONLY DAYS AGO ALREADY IS BREAKG DOWN. UKRAIAN PRINT PETRO POROSHENKO HAD PULATED TO ALMOST ALL OF RSIAN PRINT VLADIMIR PUT’S MANDS, BUT THAT DON'T SEEM TO HAVE BEEN ENOUGH. AS THE UNED STAT AND THE EUROPEAN UNN MOVE TO TIGHTEN SANCTNS ON MOSW, AND T-LED FFS ARE SENT BACK TO KIEV AND TO RSIA GROWG NUMBERS, WHAT’S HAPPENED CRIMEA SCE S ANNEXATN MARCH DO NOT LOOK VERY PROMISG. UNLIKE THE DREARY DTRIAL REGN OF DONBASS WHERE THE FIGHTG IS NCENTRATED, CRIMEA HAS GREAT POTENTIAL AS A TOURIST CENTER. BUT FOR WHAT KD OF TOURISTS, AND OM WHERE? TODAY, THE MIDST OF THE WAR, WHAT PATRTIC UKRAIAN WOULD VATN ON AN ANNEXED BEACH? AND EVEN RSIAN-SUBSIDIZED PROGRAMS HAVE NOT BROUGHT NEARLY AS MANY VISORS TO CRIMEA AS BEFORE THE CRIS. SIMEIZ, FAMO FOR S SPLASHY PARTI AND CROWD CLUBS, LOOKED SERTED. “UKRAIANS GENERAL AND PECIALLY GAY GUYS DON’T FEEL SAFE G HERE, BEE OF RSIAN ANTI-GAY LAWS,” ALEKSEI, A JEWELER SIMEIZ, TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “MAKG A SHOW OF LOVG THE RSIANS DO NOT HELP ANY LONGER—EVERY BS CRIMEA IS LOSG MONEY.” CRIMEA’S GAY POPULATN, WHICH SOME ONLE FOMS TIMATED AT OVER 10,000, FAC MOUNTG SECURY. THE “PRIME MISTER” ON THE BLACK SEA PENSULA, SERGEY AKSYONOV, HAS ANNOUNCED THAT “SEXUAL MORI WILL NEVER BE ALLOWED PUBLIC EVENTS CRIMEA.” HE PROMISED THAT POLICE WOULD ACT QUICKLY TO STOP THEM. “AUTHORI WILL NEVER SUPPORT THEM,” HE SAID.SO, STEAD OF THE FTIVE RABOW CULTURE OF ROCK AND ROLL, ELECTRONIC MIC, PSYCHELIA AND OTERI, RSIAN-N CRIMEA WILL OFFER AN ALTERNATIVE: GAMBLG. LAST APRIL, SHORTLY AFTER ANNEXATN, THE DUMA VOTED FOR THE LAW ALLOWG GAMG ZON CRIMEA. DO THE ETHOS OF THE ROULETTE WHEEL AND ONE-ARMED BANDS MATCH THE PROFSED NSERVATIVE RSIAN ORTHODOX RELIG VALU AND IOLOGY OF NOVOROSSIYA, THE NEW ADMISTRATIVE AREA THAT THE KREML IS RVG OUT OF UKRAE AT A HUGE ST? IS GAMBLG CULTURE MORE SIRABLE THAN GAY CULTURE AND UNTERCULTURE? ONE OF NOVOROSSIYA’S BIGGT ADVOT, IGOR DZ, SEEMS TO SEE AN EQUALLY NEGATIVE LIGHT. WHEN DZ VISED CRIMEA BEFORE, HE SAID, HE FELT DISTURBED BY THE BCHED ATMOSPHERE. DZ HAS EVEN SUPPORTED A BAN ON CURSG NOVOROSSIYA, WHOSE MISSN, HIS VIEW, IS TO FIGHT AGAST “DIRT, OCCULTISM AND FASCISM KIEV.” HE SAYS TRODUCG A SO CRIMEA IS TO “SP THE FACE OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE EPLY ORTHODOX VALU.” CRIMEA, WHERE ONE N FD BOOZE ANY TIME OF THE NIGHT, IS FAR OM THE IALS OF A RSIAN ORTHODOX MONASTERY, BUT WH SOS G TO THE PENSULA WILL LIKELY NTUE S DANCE WH A NEW VIL. “IT IS HARD TO BEAT THE ENEMY IF YOU YOURSELF SUFFER OM HIS SS,” SAYS DZ.AT THIS POT, HOWEVER, SOS ARE A MATTER OF SURVIVAL. THE PENSULA, WH A POPULATN OF OVER 2 LN PEOPLE, DO NOT HAVE MUCH OF A CHOICE. THIS YEAR THE “VELVET SEASON,” AS THE END OF THE SUMMER TOURIST SH IS KNOWN HERE, ALSO MARKED THE BEGNG OF A FOOD CRISIS AND ELECTRICY BLACKOUTS. MILK PRODUCTS NORMALLY LIVERED OM UKRAE DISAPPEARED OM GROCERY STOR AND THE PRIC OF GOODS LIVERED OM RSIA ARE “BG,” LOLS PLAED. ONE RECENT MONDAY MORNG CRIMEA WOKE UP TO FD THAT UKRAE HAD CUT THE ELECTRIC POWER BY TWO-THIRDS. “THE PHORIA WE HAD WHEN WE VOTED AT THE REFERENDUM TO JO RSIA IS FADG AWAY, AS WE ARE LOSG MONEY, AND FEELG SRED OF BEG LEFT WHOUT UKRAIAN GAS AND ELECTRICY THIS WTER,” SAYS ANTON BARANCHIKOV, A YOUNG ENTREPRENR.LAST WTER, PUT WAS REJECTG THE IA OF OPENGS SOS CRIMEA, BUT BY LATE JULY HE HAD SIGNED TO THE LAW THE DUMA LEGISLATN ABOUT GAMBLG ZON. “WH THE RSIAN ENOMY SUFFERG OM SANCTNS AND CREASG UNEMPLOYMENT, THE ONLY WAY PUT ULD VER CRIMEA EXPENS WAS TO CREATE THE BIGGT GAMBLG CENTER RSIA,” FORMER DUMA PUTY AND OPPOSN LEAR GENNADY GUDKOV TOLD THE DAILY BEAST. “BUT THE OTHER SI OF THE WOULD BE, EVABLY, THE FLOWERG OF CRIME AND RPTN AROUND THE GAMBLG BS.” BY JUNE, THE RSIAN CRIMEA MISTRY HAD TO CUT THE BUDGET FOR TURNG THE PENSULA TO A SUPPOSED RORT PARADISE BY 38.5 PERCENT, OM $29.4 BILLN DOWN TO $18.2 BILLN. ABOUT $10 BILLN WAS EARMARKED TO BUILD A BRIDGE ACROSS THE KERCH STRA, WH S UNPREDICTABLE CURRENTS DURG SPRG FLOODS. (AT PRENT THERE IS NO LAND ROUTE AVAILABLE BETWEEN RSIA AND CRIMEA, SCE THE OLD ON ALL GO THROUGH A PART OF UKRAE WHERE, NOT CINTALLY, THE LAST MONTH HAS SEEN TENSE FIGHTG.) BY SEPTEMBER, RSIAN THORI AGREED TO FE THE BOUNDARI OF ABOUT 500 ACR OUTSI YALTA, A HISTORIL AND CULTURAL CENTER OF CRIMEA, WHICH WILL BEE THE GAMG ZONE. YALTA WAS GREAT FOR STROLLS ALONG THE SEA DURG THE BYZANTE, OTTOMAN AND RSIAN EMPIR. NICHOLAS II, THE LAST ROMANOV, BUILT THE GRACEFUL LIVADIA PALACE ON TOP OF A HILL THERE. THE WORLD KNOWS ABOUT MALY BEE OF THE 1944 MEETG BETWEEN JOSEPH STAL, WSTON CHURCHILL, AND FRANKL ROOSEVELT AS THE END OF WORLD WAR II APPROACHED. NO SUCH MOMENTO ENUNTERS HAVE BEEN HELD THERE RECENTLY, BUT LAST MONTH PUT DID RECEIVE A FRENCH POLICIAN AND BSMAN, PHILIPPE VILLIERS, AT THE LIVADIA PALACE. HE HOSTED HIM THE ONE-TIME OFFICE OF TSAR NICHOLAS II THAT OVERLOOKS A TROPIL GARN AND THE BLACK SEA. MONSIR VILLIERS, AN OSTENTATLY RELIG NSERVATIVE AND FAILED FORMER FRENCH PRINTIAL NDIDATE, PROMISED TO BUILD AN AMEMENT PARK ANNEXED CRIMEA. WHAT FUN. ANNA NEMTSOVA

Acrdg to a 2016 report, Vlatn of LGBTI Rights Crimea and Donbass, by Anti-Discrimatn Center Memorial and Kiev-based Center for Civil Liberti, social attus “changed unr the fluence of Rsian homophobic propaganda” and the muny “beme more secretive” Crimea. It not several s where homophobic lols would lure members of the LGBT muny to meet wh them, only to huiate them and beat them up. As homophobic norms were spreadg across the pensula, support servic were disappearg.

The absence of NGOs bed wh growg state-sanctned homophobia has had ugly nsequenc.

Last month ADC Memorial documented the first se of torture of a gay man on the pensula, datg back to the fall of 2014. They didn’t want others to thk this was a gay tablishment. Assertive, wh a ep voice and her dark hair pulled back, she tells me she’s not ncerned about the gay propaganda law.