The film Put don’t want the world to see: Firebird, a gay love story about fighter pilots | World cema | The Guardian

Contents:

• THE FILM PUT DON’T WANT THE WORLD TO SEE: FIREBIRD, A GAY LOVE STORY ABOUT FIGHTER PILOTS
• 1917 RSIAN REVOLUTN: THE GAY MUNY'S BRIEF WDOW OF EEDOM
• 'GAY TATTOO' CHECK FOR RSIAN ARY RECS KREML'S LATT CLAMPDOWN ON HOMOSEXUALY
• TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY
• GAY WAR VETERAN SPEAKS OUT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS UKRAE'S ARY
• UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT‘I AM ANGRY’THE LGBTQ MUNY UKRAE BELIEV HAS EVEN MORE REASON THAN MOST TO RIST A RSIAN OCCUPATN AFTER PUT’S TROOPS POURED TO THE UNTRY. ANKH KUMARUPDATED FEB. 26, 2022 3:06AM EST / PUBLISHED FEB. 25, 2022 5:31PM EST OLENA MAKSYMENKODPERATE TO AVOID THE SHADOW OF VLADIMIR PUT’S BIGOTED REGIME FALLG OVER UKRAE, LGBTQ BAT VOLUNTEERS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST THAT MEMBERS OF THE GAY MUNY HAD BEEN SHG TO PREPARE FOR THIS VASN OF UKRAE RECENT WEEKS.NOW, THEY STAND READY TO FIGHT BACK AND RIST A RSIAN OCCUPATN IF PUT’S FORC LOOK TO REMA ON UKRAIAN SOIL.VERONIKA LIMA, WHO LIV LVIV THE FAR WT OF THE UNTRY, HAS BEEN NNG A MP, TEACHG VOLUNTEER LGBTQ TS BASIC BAT AND PARAMEDIC SKILLS. OLENA MAKSYMENKO SHE HAS SIGNED UP FOR LVIV’S TERRORIAL FENSE FORCE AND SAYS SHE IS READY TO JO THE FIGHTG, AS PUT’S FORC MOVE WT ACROSS THE UNTRY. “I AM ANGRY,” SHE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST, AS THE RSIANS BOMBED CI AND DROVE TANKS EPER TO UKRAIAN TERRORY. “WE WILL KILL PUT.”LIMA, WHO WORKS FOR AN NGO PROMOTG EQUAL RIGHTS FOR LGBT PEOPLE THE ARY, SAYS THE GAY MUNY UKRAE WILL RIST RSIAN OCCUPATN SPE NTUED DISCRIMATN AT HOME. THE ALTERNATIVE IS UNBEARABLE. “EHER WE FEND OUR UNTRY, AND WILL BEE A PART OF THE EE WORLD, OR THERE WILL NOT BE ANY EEDOM FOR AND WILL NOT BE UKRAE AT ALL.” ON SUNDAY, THE U.S. WARNED THAT RSIA HAS A “KILL LIST” OF UKRAIANS TO BE TAED OR KILLED. THE LIST REPORTEDLY NTAS MANY JOURNALISTS, LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, POLICIANS, AND ERNMENT OFFICIALS.ANDRII KRAVCH, WHO WORKS AT THE LGBTQ NASH SV CENTER, KYIV SAID THE IMPACT OF RSIA’S HOMOPHOBIA HAD BEEN FELT HIS HOMETOWN THE DONBAS REGN, WHICH HE FLED AFTER THE 2014 VASN.“WE ARE VERY NSC OF THE THREATS WHICH WE HAVE FACED—AS BOTH UKRAIANS AND LGBT+ PEOPLE. WE UNRSTAND THAT THE RSIAN OCCUPATN WOULD MEAN TOTAL LAWLSNS AND REPRSNS—WE SEE RIGHT NOW THE UKRAIAN-OCCUPIED TERRORI OF CRIMEA AND DONBAS,” HE SAID.“NOW WE HAVE ONLY TWO OPTNS: EHER WE FEND OUR UNTRY, AND WILL BEE A PART OF THE EE WORLD, OR THERE WILL NOT BE ANY EEDOM FOR AND WILL NOT BE UKRAE AT ALL.”THOUGH THE WAR BETWEEN RSIA AND UKRAE HAS BEEN GOG ON FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS MOSTLY THE EAST, TURNED TO A FULL VASN ON THURSDAY MORNG.“MANY LGBT+ ACTIVISTS, WHO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATN THE EUROMAIDAN EVENTS, ARE JOG THE TERRORIAL DEFENSE FORC OR HOLDG TRAG PARAMEDIL HELP,” SAID KRAVCH. “LGBT+ PEOPLE WHO SERVED THE ARMY AND ARY VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO E BACK TO THEIR SERVICE. WE ARE DOG THE SAME AS THE RT OF THE NATN.”RSIA HAS A HISTORY OF GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VLATNS. THE ANTI-GAY PURGE THE RSIAN REPUBLIC OF CHECHNYA HAS DRIVEN THE LGBTQ MUNY UNRGROUND. MANY WERE TAED THE REGN, WHILE MANY MORE FLED. DEMONSTRATORS LAY ROS ON A RABOW FLAG AS THEY PROTT OVER AN ALLEGED CRACKDOWN ON GAY MEN CHECHNYA OUTSI THE RSIAN EMBASSY LONDON ON JUNE 2, 2017. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGE IN DONBAS, A SOUTH-EASTERN RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATIST REGN OF UKRAE, THE LGBTQ MUNY HAS ALREADY SEEN WHAT HAPPENS IF PRO-PUT THUGS TAKE NTROL. BEFORE THE DONBAS WAR, THE GAY MUNY WAS FLOURISHG BUT SCE 2013, RSIA-BACKED SEPARATISTS BROUGHT CREASED HOMOPHOBIC RHETORIC TO THE REGN. IN MANY S, THE LGBTQ MUNY FACED ASSLT, TENTN, AND VLENCE.PUT HIMSELF HAS A HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIA. WHILE SPEAKG AT THE ANNUAL MEETG OF THE VALDAI DISCSN CLUB LAST YEAR, HE SAID “GENR FLUIDY” IS A “CRIME AGAST HUMANY.” HE ALSO SIGNED A “GAY PROPAGANDA” LAW 2013, WHICH PLEDGED TO UPHOLD “TRADNAL VALU.”KRAVCH HIMSELF FLED LUHANSK, A REGN CLOSE TO THE RSIA-UKRAE BORR, 2014 AFTER SHELLG STARTED. AFTER PG, HE MOVED TO KYIV WHERE HE LIV WH HIS BOYIEND. HIS FAY REMAED AT HOME. WHILE RETURNG OM THE MARKET RECENT DAYS, HIS BROTHER WAS PTURED BY RSIAN OCCUPATN FORC AND TOLD HE WOULD BE FORCIBLY NSCRIPTED TO FEND THE PRO-RSIAN “LUHANSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC,” SPE HIS ARTIFICIAL KNEE JOT. EVEN THOUGH HIS BROTHER MAY BE FIGHTG FOR THE OTHER SI—AGAST HIS WILL—KRAVCH SAID HE WOULD FIGHT ON.ON FRIDAY MORNG, HE TEXTED THE DAILY BEAST: “FOR NOW, WE’RE SAFE, BUT NOBODY KNOWS WHAT MAY HAPPEN FEW HOURS.” OLENA MAKSYMENKO VALERY BROWN, WHO INTIFI AS A LBIAN, SAID SHE HAD ALSO BEEN TRAG UP TO RIST PUT’S VASN. BEFORE THE NFLICT BEGAN, SHE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST: “I AM TRYG TO DO MY BT TO BE PREPARED FOR DIFFERENT OUT.”TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER THE VASN BEGAN, SHE WROTE BACK: “THIS IS HORRIBLE.”NOT ALL LGBTQ UKRAIANS ARE PREPARG TO FIGHT. SOME ARE VOLUNTEERG TO HELP ONTLE SOLDIERS AND LGBTQ CIVILIANS. VIKTOR PYLYPENKO, HEAD OF THE NGO UKRAIAN LGBT SOLDIERS, SAID MANY LGBTQ ARY FOLKS ARE ALREADY ON THE ONTLE, AND LGBTQ CIVILIANS ARE HELPG TO GATHER MONEY, EQUIPMENT, WEAPONS, AND MEDIL AID FOR ONTLE SOLDIERS.THE UKRAIAN LGBTQ MUNY IS SHOWG STRENGTH AND FEARLSNS EVEN WHEN RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS HAVE ALREADY STARTED SHELLG, AND THE WTERN WORLD IS BRACG FOR ANY POSSIBLE OUTE. MANY HAVE NOWHERE TO GO—UKRAIANS AND THE LGBTQ MUNY SAY THEY WILL FIGHT TO SAVE THEIR UNTRY. ANKH KUMAR
• UKRAE’S GAY SOLDIERS FIGHT RSIA—AND FOR THEIR RIGHTS

THE FILM PUT DON’T WANT THE WORLD TO SEE: FIREBIRD, A GAY LOVE STORY ABOUT FIGHTER PILOTS

Image ptn, Many young Rsian men face beg nscripted to the armyGuil are beg issued to the Rsian army to check soldiers for timate tattoos but a fence source nied gay men were beg targeted.

Many young men try to avoid the ll-up through obtag legal exemptns or by other a US TV terview 2010, Vladimir Put, Rsia's current print, said openly gay men were not banned om servg the Rsian ary. A young man who allows himself to be tattooed may be cled to "subm to the will of others", they unnamed sourc terviewed by Izvtia - a ary psychologist and a puty battaln manr - argued that gay soldiers were an unwele distractn the army. News of the guil as the untry's parliament bat a ntroversial bill to outlaw the promotn of homosexualy among children, which some mpaigners see as a veiled attack on gay on this storyRelated Inter LksThe BBC is not rponsible for the ntent of external s.

The urt found that the law “served no legimate public tert, ” rejectg suggtns that public bate on LGBT issu uld fluence children to bee homosexual, or that threatened public morals. Speakg before Put signed the bill to the law on Monday, Tanya Loksha, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch said: “The 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law was an unabashed example of polil homophobia, and the new draft legislatn amplifi that broar and harsher ways. Wh a day of s publitn, the Natnal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced would open an vtigatn to “this ugly se” prsure om the regnal ernor, the rector of the Ulyanovsk Instute of Civil Aviatn, Sergei Krasnov, likened the ts’ suatn to Psy such an “unfivable” disgrace to veterans, he said, they uld be expelled, perhaps, even, tried unr Rsia’s ntroversial anti-homosexual laws.

1917 RSIAN REVOLUTN: THE GAY MUNY'S BRIEF WDOW OF EEDOM

Image source, Olga KhoroshilovaImage ptn, Guts at the ceremony 1921 cross drsedIn January 1921 Rsian Baltic Fleet sailor Afanasy Shr anised an extraordary gay weddg Petrograd. He did not thk guts would e if had jt been a he gambled - rightly - that a proper weddg wh all the Rsian tradns, bread and salt, a blsg om the proud parents, and a ncert to follow, would be the time Rsia's gay muny was enjoyg a brief wdow of the October Revolutn 1917, the Bolsheviks scrapped and rewrote the untry's laws. They produced two Crimal Cos - 1922 and 1926 - and an article prohibg gay sex was left off source, Central State Library of St PetersburgImage ptn, Rsian sailors wh young men drsed women's cloth, 1916But the weddg Petrograd (now St Petersburg) was not all seemed.

'GAY TATTOO' CHECK FOR RSIAN ARY RECS KREML'S LATT CLAMPDOWN ON HOMOSEXUALY

The se was eventually closed and the "unter-revolutnari" got away wh nothg more than a to regnise 'one's own'Image source, Olga KhoroshilovaImage ptn, Apasha and Apashka, fashn ins of the NEP era, Lengrad, mid-1920sGay men had been part of a distct unrground muny Rsia long before the revolutn and they regnised each other by the "secret language" of St Petersburg, some wore red ti, or red shawls, onto which they would sew the back pockets of powred their fac and wore a lot of the revolutn, the heavily ma-up "silent film star look" beme more mastream and no longer jt a fashn for young gay more about the Rsian RevolutnThe upheaval of the revolutn and civil war brought hard tim to Rsia and gay men were not able to match the flamboyant cloth and luxury accsori favoured by some of their unterparts across but still persecutedThe Bolsheviks were directly fluenced by Magn Hirschfeld, a German scientist who found the Instute of Sexology Berl. Image source, Olga KhoroshilovaImage ptn, Hansi Sturm, a famo Berl drag queen of the although there may not have been an article relatg to gay sex the crimal s of the 1920s, the muny was still persecuted.

They poured out their souls, askg him to help them pe wh prsn and even to "cure their illns" letters and other documents show that members of the gay muny were credibly brave - some wore women's drs and rsets, wore their hair long and often looked like real women. There were two gay muni and they rarely first were the so-lled "aristocrats" - reprentativ of the creative telligentsia, nobl, officials, and officers of the Tsarist army and navy. Image source, Olga KhoroshilovaImage ptn, Members of the Petrograd gay muny's 'simple class'The other muny was "simple" (the name, evintly, was vented by the "aristocrats").

It nsisted of soldiers, sailors, clerks - people who had not been part of the fashnable St Petersburg salons before the revolutn and who were not wele guts of the "aristocrats" after the 1920s, German Travti theatre - which men drs as women and vice versa - beme popular among Soviet gay men. Before the revolutn, Leifert was a supplier to the imperial urt and he also ma stum for the dancers of the Marisky then all me to an endAfter Afanasy Shr's plot to ensnare "unter-revolutnari" wh his spectacular gay marriage ceremony, there were no more high-profile weddgs or arrts like this the 1920s.

TELL: AN INTIMATE HISTORY OF GAY MEN THE MILARY

Although homosexualy was tolerated, the muny started to lose s eedom the source, Olga KhoroshilovaImage ptn, Rsian "Travti" theatre, 1910sIn July 1933, 175 gay men om different walks of life were arrted what me to be known as the Case of the Lengrad Homosexuals. Petrograd, 1916-1917Those same assertns were repeated the early 1930s, as well as forced nfsns obtaed by the secret Case of the Lengrad Homosexuals led to the re-cln of the article outlawg homosexualy the new Crimal Co of 1934 and Rsia's short-lived tolerance of gay rights fally me to an Khoroshilova was speakg to BBC Rsian's Anna on this story.

Conscripts and ntract soldiers to be given a thorough examatn Special attentn to tattoos near the face, sexual ans and buttocks But many officers have already rejected the 'impractil' guil Com amid recent backlash agast homosexualy and Wtern valuAlmost a third of Rsians thk homosexualy is rult of 'a sickns' Published: 13:48 BST, 24 January 2013 | Updated: 15:19 BST, 24 January 2013 Rsian ary recs are to be checked for certa typ of tattoo which thori believe uld reveal signs of homosexualy unr new technil guil issued om the Kreml. Tattoo checks: Recs jog the Rsian ary are to be examed for any timate tattoos which uld reveal homosexualy unr new guil issued by the Kreml Checkups: Recs show doctors their tongu, durg a medil examatn the Siberian cy of Kemerovo The text reads: 'The reason for gettg tattoos uld dite a low cultural or tnal level. Kreml: Many wh the Rsian ernment are agast the promotn of homosexualy and wtern valu Officers are advised to chat wh nscripts about their sexual experience and nduct.

GAY WAR VETERAN SPEAKS OUT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS UKRAE'S ARY

'" While the Rsian ary holds tradnal views on sexualy, a UN report om 2007 stated homosexualy and male prostutn is mon wh the UN Internatnal Panel for Stggle agast Sexual Exploatn found that some soldiers voluntarily offer their servic while others are forced to prostutn.

'The move is the latt a seri of proposed clampdowns on homosexualy cludg new legislatn which aims to promote tradnal the terms of a bill that up for a first vote later this month, a public kiss between two men uld be fed as illegal 'homosexual propaganda' and brg a fe of up to £10, 000 The legislatn beg phed by the Kreml and the Rsian Orthodox Church would make illegal to tell mors rmatn that is fed as ‘propaganda of sodomy, lbianism, bisexualy and transgenrism. Picuttured: Officers ta gay right activists durg a prott Mosw The bill is part of an effort to promote tradnal Rsian valu as opposed to Wtern liberalism, which the Kreml and church see as rptg Rsian youth and ntributg to a wave of prott agast Print Vladimir Put's le, Fox News laws that the Kreml says are tend to protect young Rsians have been adopted recent months, cludg some that allow banng and blockg web ntent and prt publitns that are emed ‘extremist’ or unf for young Volkov, a soclogist wh the Levada Center, an pennt pollster, says the anti-gay bill fs the ‘general logic’ of a ernment tent on limg var this se, the move has been met mostly wh eher difference or open enthiasm by average Rsians.

Prott: Rsian police officers ta a gay rights activist durg an attempt to hold a gay pri para Mosw May 2012 Levada polls nducted last year show that almost two thirds of Rsians fd homosexualy ‘morally unacceptable and worth nmng. ’ About half are agast gay ralli and same-sex marriage; almost a third thk homosexualy is the rult of ‘a sickns or a psychologil trma, ’ the Levada surveys show. Lawmakers have acced homosexuals of creasg Rsia's already low birth rat and said they should be barred om ernment jobs, unrgo forced medil treatment or be exiled.

UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT‘I AM ANGRY’THE LGBTQ MUNY UKRAE BELIEV HAS EVEN MORE REASON THAN MOST TO RIST A RSIAN OCCUPATN AFTER PUT’S TROOPS POURED TO THE UNTRY. ANKH KUMARUPDATED FEB. 26, 2022 3:06AM EST / PUBLISHED FEB. 25, 2022 5:31PM EST OLENA MAKSYMENKODPERATE TO AVOID THE SHADOW OF VLADIMIR PUT’S BIGOTED REGIME FALLG OVER UKRAE, LGBTQ BAT VOLUNTEERS TOLD THE DAILY BEAST THAT MEMBERS OF THE GAY MUNY HAD BEEN SHG TO PREPARE FOR THIS VASN OF UKRAE RECENT WEEKS.NOW, THEY STAND READY TO FIGHT BACK AND RIST A RSIAN OCCUPATN IF PUT’S FORC LOOK TO REMA ON UKRAIAN SOIL.VERONIKA LIMA, WHO LIV LVIV THE FAR WT OF THE UNTRY, HAS BEEN NNG A MP, TEACHG VOLUNTEER LGBTQ TS BASIC BAT AND PARAMEDIC SKILLS. OLENA MAKSYMENKO SHE HAS SIGNED UP FOR LVIV’S TERRORIAL FENSE FORCE AND SAYS SHE IS READY TO JO THE FIGHTG, AS PUT’S FORC MOVE WT ACROSS THE UNTRY. “I AM ANGRY,” SHE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST, AS THE RSIANS BOMBED CI AND DROVE TANKS EPER TO UKRAIAN TERRORY. “WE WILL KILL PUT.”LIMA, WHO WORKS FOR AN NGO PROMOTG EQUAL RIGHTS FOR LGBT PEOPLE THE ARY, SAYS THE GAY MUNY UKRAE WILL RIST RSIAN OCCUPATN SPE NTUED DISCRIMATN AT HOME. THE ALTERNATIVE IS UNBEARABLE. “EHER WE FEND OUR UNTRY, AND WILL BEE A PART OF THE EE WORLD, OR THERE WILL NOT BE ANY EEDOM FOR AND WILL NOT BE UKRAE AT ALL.” ON SUNDAY, THE U.S. WARNED THAT RSIA HAS A “KILL LIST” OF UKRAIANS TO BE TAED OR KILLED. THE LIST REPORTEDLY NTAS MANY JOURNALISTS, LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, POLICIANS, AND ERNMENT OFFICIALS.ANDRII KRAVCH, WHO WORKS AT THE LGBTQ NASH SV CENTER, KYIV SAID THE IMPACT OF RSIA’S HOMOPHOBIA HAD BEEN FELT HIS HOMETOWN THE DONBAS REGN, WHICH HE FLED AFTER THE 2014 VASN.“WE ARE VERY NSC OF THE THREATS WHICH WE HAVE FACED—AS BOTH UKRAIANS AND LGBT+ PEOPLE. WE UNRSTAND THAT THE RSIAN OCCUPATN WOULD MEAN TOTAL LAWLSNS AND REPRSNS—WE SEE RIGHT NOW THE UKRAIAN-OCCUPIED TERRORI OF CRIMEA AND DONBAS,” HE SAID.“NOW WE HAVE ONLY TWO OPTNS: EHER WE FEND OUR UNTRY, AND WILL BEE A PART OF THE EE WORLD, OR THERE WILL NOT BE ANY EEDOM FOR AND WILL NOT BE UKRAE AT ALL.”THOUGH THE WAR BETWEEN RSIA AND UKRAE HAS BEEN GOG ON FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS MOSTLY THE EAST, TURNED TO A FULL VASN ON THURSDAY MORNG.“MANY LGBT+ ACTIVISTS, WHO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPATN THE EUROMAIDAN EVENTS, ARE JOG THE TERRORIAL DEFENSE FORC OR HOLDG TRAG PARAMEDIL HELP,” SAID KRAVCH. “LGBT+ PEOPLE WHO SERVED THE ARMY AND ARY VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO E BACK TO THEIR SERVICE. WE ARE DOG THE SAME AS THE RT OF THE NATN.”RSIA HAS A HISTORY OF GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VLATNS. THE ANTI-GAY PURGE THE RSIAN REPUBLIC OF CHECHNYA HAS DRIVEN THE LGBTQ MUNY UNRGROUND. MANY WERE TAED THE REGN, WHILE MANY MORE FLED. DEMONSTRATORS LAY ROS ON A RABOW FLAG AS THEY PROTT OVER AN ALLEGED CRACKDOWN ON GAY MEN CHECHNYA OUTSI THE RSIAN EMBASSY LONDON ON JUNE 2, 2017. JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGE IN DONBAS, A SOUTH-EASTERN RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATIST REGN OF UKRAE, THE LGBTQ MUNY HAS ALREADY SEEN WHAT HAPPENS IF PRO-PUT THUGS TAKE NTROL. BEFORE THE DONBAS WAR, THE GAY MUNY WAS FLOURISHG BUT SCE 2013, RSIA-BACKED SEPARATISTS BROUGHT CREASED HOMOPHOBIC RHETORIC TO THE REGN. IN MANY S, THE LGBTQ MUNY FACED ASSLT, TENTN, AND VLENCE.PUT HIMSELF HAS A HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIA. WHILE SPEAKG AT THE ANNUAL MEETG OF THE VALDAI DISCSN CLUB LAST YEAR, HE SAID “GENR FLUIDY” IS A “CRIME AGAST HUMANY.” HE ALSO SIGNED A “GAY PROPAGANDA” LAW 2013, WHICH PLEDGED TO UPHOLD “TRADNAL VALU.”KRAVCH HIMSELF FLED LUHANSK, A REGN CLOSE TO THE RSIA-UKRAE BORR, 2014 AFTER SHELLG STARTED. AFTER PG, HE MOVED TO KYIV WHERE HE LIV WH HIS BOYIEND. HIS FAY REMAED AT HOME. WHILE RETURNG OM THE MARKET RECENT DAYS, HIS BROTHER WAS PTURED BY RSIAN OCCUPATN FORC AND TOLD HE WOULD BE FORCIBLY NSCRIPTED TO FEND THE PRO-RSIAN “LUHANSK PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC,” SPE HIS ARTIFICIAL KNEE JOT. EVEN THOUGH HIS BROTHER MAY BE FIGHTG FOR THE OTHER SI—AGAST HIS WILL—KRAVCH SAID HE WOULD FIGHT ON.ON FRIDAY MORNG, HE TEXTED THE DAILY BEAST: “FOR NOW, WE’RE SAFE, BUT NOBODY KNOWS WHAT MAY HAPPEN FEW HOURS.” OLENA MAKSYMENKO VALERY BROWN, WHO INTIFI AS A LBIAN, SAID SHE HAD ALSO BEEN TRAG UP TO RIST PUT’S VASN. BEFORE THE NFLICT BEGAN, SHE TOLD THE DAILY BEAST: “I AM TRYG TO DO MY BT TO BE PREPARED FOR DIFFERENT OUT.”TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AFTER THE VASN BEGAN, SHE WROTE BACK: “THIS IS HORRIBLE.”NOT ALL LGBTQ UKRAIANS ARE PREPARG TO FIGHT. SOME ARE VOLUNTEERG TO HELP ONTLE SOLDIERS AND LGBTQ CIVILIANS. VIKTOR PYLYPENKO, HEAD OF THE NGO UKRAIAN LGBT SOLDIERS, SAID MANY LGBTQ ARY FOLKS ARE ALREADY ON THE ONTLE, AND LGBTQ CIVILIANS ARE HELPG TO GATHER MONEY, EQUIPMENT, WEAPONS, AND MEDIL AID FOR ONTLE SOLDIERS.THE UKRAIAN LGBTQ MUNY IS SHOWG STRENGTH AND FEARLSNS EVEN WHEN RSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS HAVE ALREADY STARTED SHELLG, AND THE WTERN WORLD IS BRACG FOR ANY POSSIBLE OUTE. MANY HAVE NOWHERE TO GO—UKRAIANS AND THE LGBTQ MUNY SAY THEY WILL FIGHT TO SAVE THEIR UNTRY. ANKH KUMAR

A man drsed a bridal gown screams out of a police vehicle after he was taed In a gay rights prott December, Pavel Samburov, founr of gay-rights group the Rabow Associatn, was pelted wh eggs by ant activists wh the Orthodox Church sends after he and his boyiend was arrted by police, fed £10 and taed for 30 hours first a ozen van and then an unheated tentn Orthodox activists were also round up, but were released much behd the bill say mors need to be protected om ‘homosexual propaganda’ bee they are unable to evaluate the rmatn crilly. Only one person has been prosecuted so far unr a law specifilly targeted at homosexuals: Nikolai Alexeyev, a gay rights mpaigner, was fed the equivalent of £100 after a one-man prott last summer St.

Homosexuals are subject to official prsure and persistent homophobia The feral bill's expected adoptn 20 years after a Stalist-era law punishg homosexualy wh up to five years prison was removed om Rsia's penal as part of the mocratic reforms that followed the Soviet Unn's of the other former Soviet republics also crimalised homosexualy, and attus toward gays have bee a lm tt of mocratic eedoms.

UKRAE’S GAY SOLDIERS FIGHT RSIA—AND FOR THEIR RIGHTS

While gay pri paras are held the three former Soviet Baltic stat, all today members of the European Unn, same-sex love remas a crime thorarian Turkmenistan and Rsia, homosexuals have been subject to official prsure and persistent homophobia. The are the voic explag what has been like to be a gay man1 the Amerin ary over the prev seventy or so years, om World War II veterans their late eighti to young servicemen on active duty.

"I remember beg the Castro, " says John Forrett (army rerve, 1987–99), "and watchg the TV at a bar wh some iends, watchg Al Gore and Bill Clton swearg that if they beme the tag team for Ameri they were gog to get rid of the harassment of gays and lbians servg the ary. " Gay people were allowed the ary but only as long as they didn’t reveal their sexualy; to facilate this, all members of the ary were also prohibed om quirg about anyone’s possible orientatn. You’re a Mare, you don’t md gettg dirty, gog out to the field and not showerg for weeks at a, if you were gay, when you have to shower wh all the other guys you’d get all exced.