ABOVE: The sign of a Budapest Pride supporter Feb. 24, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Budapest Pride/Twitter)
LGBTQ activists across Europe continue to stand in solidarity with their counterparts in Ukraine in the wake of Russia’s invasion of their country.
“We are ready to host LGBT+ people from Ukraine here,” said Anastasia Danilova, executive director of Genderdoc-M, an LGBTQ rights group in Moldova, which borders Ukraine, told the Washington Blade Feb. 27. “We will provide all necessary support: Accommodation, meals, counseling and medical support.”
Genderdoc-M members on Feb. 24 participated in a protest outside the Russian Embassy in Chisinau, the Moldovan capital.
Danilova described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “crazy guy.” Danilova also noted Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway region, is in Moldova.
“[Putin] is sick and he is unstoppable,” said Danilova.
“Moldova used to be a part of the Soviet Union and we have a frozen conflict in the Transnistrian region,” added Danilova. “We have Russian troops.”
Mozaika, an LGBTQ rights group in Latvia, a Baltic country that borders Russia, tweeted the country’s LGBTQ community is “together with Ukraine, both in thought and deed.” Mozaika through its online Diversity Shop is selling Ukraine-specific t-shirts and other clothes to raise money for the country’s LGBTQ rights groups.
A EuroPride fundraiser has raised more than €16,000 ($17846.32) for Kyiv Pride and Kharkiv Pride in Ukraine. OutRight Action International has raised more than $105,000 for LGBTQ Ukrainians through a fund it created after Russia launched its invasion of the country.
“Let’s give our community some sense of hope and help, by providing the funds they need to survive, and the resilience they need to thrive,” said OutRight Action International in its appeal.
Kampania Przeciw Homofobii (Campaign Against Homophobia), an LGBTQ rights group in Poland, which borders Ukraine, has also urged their members and supporters to help LGBTQ Ukrainians. Kampania Przciw Homofobii, like advocacy groups in Hungary and other European countries, have also participated in protests against the invasion.
“Don’t be passive: Act,” proclaimed Kampania Przciw Homofobii in a Feb. 24 tweet.
Situation for LGBTQ Ukrainians ‘is dire’
The invasion has sparked worldwide condemnation and sweeping sanctions against Russia, Putin and members of his inner circle.
Magomed Tushayev, a Chechen warlord who played a role in the anti-LGBTQ crackdown in his homeland, on Saturday died during a skirmish with the Ukrainian military’s elite Alpha Group outside of Kyiv, the country’s capital. A White House official late last week told the Blade the Biden administration has “engaged directly” with LGBTQ Ukrainians and other groups that Russia may target if it gains control of their country.
“We remain (in Ukraine) to defend ourselves and our country and will continue to help people,” wrote Olena Shevchenko, chair of Insight, a Ukrainian LGBTQ rights group, on Feb. 24 in a Blade op-ed. “Our activists from the LGBTQI+ communities are staying and keep working, providing support to the most marginalized ones. Honestly, I don’t know how long we will be able to resist, but we will do our best for sure.”
Anna Sharyhina co-founded the Sphere Women’s Association, which is based in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city that is less than 30 miles from the Russian border in eastern Ukraine. Sphere Women’s Association, among other things, organizes Kharkiv Pride.
“The situation we, activists, human rights defenders, the LGBT+ community and the entire Ukraine, are in is dire,” wrote Sharyhina on Sunday in an email to supporters. “Several times a day, for hours and hours, we hear explosions of varying intensity and receive information about new shelling and attacks by Russian troops.”
“Even now, while I am composing this address, I hear shootings and explosions,” added Sharyhina. “It is extremely hard to work and make even simple decisions in such conditions. Many have left, others are seeking shelter locally.”
Sharyhina said the organization plans to begin to hold “daily online emergency meetings” and has begun to plan on how “to help people in the LGBT+ community because they are in a very vulnerable state.”
“We have come to a conclusion that funds may be needed for housing, food, relocation from dangerous areas, hygiene products, warm blankets, mats, and so on,” wrote Sharyhina, who asked supporters to make donations.
“With sincere faith in freedom, democracy and human rights in Ukraine,” ends the email.
