As Edgars Rkēvičs be the first openly gay print Latvia’s history, here’s a glimpse at other openly gay heads of state om around the world.
Contents:
- UKRAE’S GAY SOLDIERS FIGHT RSIA—AND FOR THEIR RIGHTS
- UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT
- PUT’S ANTI-GAY WAR ON UKRAE
- LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
- “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 POPULARGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPL“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 POPULARGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPL“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
- GAY WAR VETERAN SPEAKS OUT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS UKRAE'S ARY
- IN RSIA, GAY PEOPLE ARE ROUTELY TARGETED. THAT’S WHY THIS UKRAIAN SOLDIER IS FIGHTG.
- MOSW’S WAR UKRAE BROUGHT HARSH TACTICS AGAST GAY RSIANS AT HOME
UKRAE’S GAY SOLDIERS FIGHT RSIA—AND FOR THEIR RIGHTS
War chang everythg, cludg attus to gay people | Europe * ukraine gay war *
Members of Ukrae's LGBTQ muny who sign up for the war have taken to sewg the image of the mythil beast to their standard-issue eplett jt below the natnal practice harks back to the 2014 nflict when Rsia vad then annexed the Crimean Pensula om Ukrae, "when lots of people said there are no gay people the army, " actor, director and drama teacher Zhuhan told Rters as he and Romanova drsed their apartment for their send three-month bat rotatn.
"Zhuhan's unease lifts as one manr mak clear his refal to tolerate homophobia, and a more senr officer says the only important thg on the ont le is to be a good fighter, he subsequently tells Rters by one overridg fear, voiced back their apartment, remas.
UKRAE’S GAY COMBAT VOLUNTEERS ARE READY TO FIGHT FOR THEIR LIV AGAST ANTI-LGBTQ PUT
* ukraine gay war *
When a homophobic heckler terpted a news nference by Ukrae's print Volodymyr Zelenskyy 2019, the print told the man to shut up and leave gay people alone. "I knew that if I stayed, then the borr would be closed to me, and they would obligate me to serve the ary, " says Bohdan Moroz, 23, a gay signer om Kyiv whose pany evacuated him to Berl before nscriptn took effect. Europe | A battle yet to be wonWar chang everythg, cludg attus to gay people When Pasha Lagoyda joed the Ukraian army 2021, he didn’t tell anyone he was gay.
PUT’S ANTI-GAY WAR ON UKRAE
Life for LGBTQ people Ukrae had been improvg, while Rsian Print Vladimir Put has systematilly attacked gay and transgenr people. * ukraine gay war *
“Wherever I serve, ” says Mr Lagoyda, “everyone tells me: ‘Bee you are here at war, prciple I have no right to ll you gay or a faggot; you are jt a person who is protectg on an equal footg’. Homosexual sex was crimalised after the Soviet Unn broke up 1991, but when Kyiv’s first Gay Pri para was held 2013 only a few dozen people were brave enough to ignore the threat of skhead vlence.
LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE
The role of gay soldiers, the lack of legal rights for their partners, and the threat of Rsia imposg anti-L.G.B.T. polici have turned the war to a talyst for change Ukrae. * ukraine gay war *
” Sofiia Lapa, head of Ukraepri, an NGO, argu that the shift attus on gay issu partly reflects Ukraian aspiratns to be culturally and polilly closer to Europe.
It is also a way, she adds, for Ukraians to oppose Vladimir Put’s reprsive Rsia, which has outlawed “homosexual propaganda” and characteris the war Ukrae as an existential battle agast the Wt’s supposed promotn of gay marriage, rampant paedophilia and genr-ntral pronouns. Turkey’s Kurds are jog the aln to ot ErdoganCalls for Rsia to ee Evan Gershkovich fall on af earsSanna Mar nces feat FlandUkrae’s gay soldiers fight Rsia—and for their rightsMontenegro’s long-time boss is otedFrom the April 8th 2023 ednDisver stori om this sectn and more the list of ntents Explore the edn.
“We need to make sure that LGBT people fleeg Ukrae fd themselv a safe space, ” says Vyachlav Melnyk, the executive director of the Polish LGBTQ advocy group Campaign Agast Homophobia. In their rankg of LGBTQ rights Europe, the advocy group the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, or ILGA-Europe, ranks Hungary 28th and Poland 43rd out of 49 untri.
“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 POPULARGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPL“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 POPULARGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZOUR FLAG MEANS DEATH SEASON 2: EXCLIVE FIRST LOOKBY SARAH CATHERALLHOW MK, THIEL, ZUCKERBERG, AND ANDRESEN—FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS—ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE, AUTOCRATIC REALYBY JONATHAN TAPL“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
A pro-Rsian puppet ernment would be ls supportive of gay rights, the activists say, and cints of discrimatn would be likely to rise, as they have Rsian-backed separatist regns. * ukraine gay war *
Dperate 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, they stand ready to fight back and rist a Rsian occupatn if Put’s forc look to rema on Ukraian soil. ”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.
GAY WAR VETERAN SPEAKS OUT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS UKRAE'S ARY
LGBTQ soldiers on Ukrae’s ont l have put the lie to the ia that “a gay nnot be a patrt.” * ukraine gay war *
The list reportedly ntas many journalists, LGBTQ+ people, policians, and ernment 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.
The realy is that the Kreml has nstcted a pernic iology of homophobia as geopolics, and official Rsian rhetoric the war Ukrae is amed as the ntuatn of this polics by other means.
The 2013 law banng “propaganda for non-tradnal sexual relatnships” among mors not only rtricted possibili to speak and rm about sexualy and genr issu public—somethg siar is now unfoldg the Uned Stat, should be noted—but also signated homosexualy as a danger to children and to society. ” Acrdg to this logic, the facts that NATO expands to terrori Rsia nsirs part of s “sphere of fluence” and that European and Amerin lears talk of gay rights as universal human rights are two sis of the same .
IN RSIA, GAY PEOPLE ARE ROUTELY TARGETED. THAT’S WHY THIS UKRAIAN SOLDIER IS FIGHTG.
Viktor Pylypenko has bee a role mol for dozens of LGBT+ Ukraian war veterans and their supporters sce he anised their participatn two years ago Kyiv's largt ever gay pri march. * ukraine gay war *
In 2013 the Rsian newspaper Izvtiya warned that Wt-sponsored LGBT activism uld spark a “gay revolutn” riskg to throw Rsia back to the societal chaos of the 1990s. As the Maidan protts agast the pro-Rsian print Viktor Yanovych began Ukrae late 2013, Rsia’s largt newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda claimed that the protts were -anized by “natnalists, anti-Sem, neo-Nazis and homosexuals.
Protectg Rsian children—embodyg the natn’s future—om predatory homosexuals as well as om harmful LGBT iology has been a recurrg argument, ed to motivate both the 2013 gay propaganda law and the 2013 “Dima Yakovlev law, ” which banned U.
MOSW’S WAR UKRAE BROUGHT HARSH TACTICS AGAST GAY RSIANS AT HOME
When openly gay soldier Alex Fisch prepared to fend Ukrae agast Rsia's forc Febary, he feared not only for his own life but also that of his partner, who was also the army. * ukraine gay war *
Such a moral mappg fluenced the nservative genr polics of the 1930s Stal regime, when the Communists retroduced the ban on sodomy (which had been lifted after the 1917 revolutn) and explicly picted homosexualy as a secury threat the form of unrground, pro-Hler works of homosexuals—Healey lls the nservative turn unr Stal the “birth of morn Rsian polil homophobia. The 1950s gay panic the Uned Stat, when accatns of homosexualy beme a smear tactic Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist csa and homosexuals were barred om servg the feral admistratn as they were seen as potential Soviet spi, has obv siari to how LGBT movements today’s Rsia are scribed as a fifth lumn planted by the Wt.
In several untri Sub-Saharan Ai, cludg Uganda and Zimbabwe, polil and relig lears talk of homosexualy and LGBT activism as pawns of Wtern attempts to re-lonize Ai. Pictur of Put or a Rsian bear fuckg NATO or a Wtern male lear om behd draw on both sexism and homophobia to pict the war Ukrae as a masculy ntt between Rsia and the Wt.