The full-scale Russian aggression has affected everyone in Ukraine. After February 2022, some people joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), some started to volunteer to secure the needs of the military and civilians, while others were forced to leave their homes and rebuild their lives in new cities, regions, or even countries. And some people experienced it all. The war has also affected LGBTQ+ people. They, too, serve in the military, volunteer, and live through the various challenges of war, all while dreaming about the future. While russia is further tightening anti-LGBT legislation, using the discourse of “protecting traditional values” to justify its military aggression against Ukraine and deliberately seeking out, imprisoning, and torturing members of the LGBTQ+ community on the occupied territories of Ukraine, Ukrainian society is moving towards greater inclusion and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Ukraine’s Media space is gradually filled with stories about LGBTQ+ in the military and LGBTQ+ activists. Most often these stories focus on the first three letters of the abbreviation (LGB), while the experiences of trans and queer people remain less visible and talked about.
Thus, we decided to talk to some of the most visible representatives of the LGBTQ+ community to ensure that the “T” and the “Q” are not left out. In this article, we discuss the experience of LGBTQ+ people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and their volunteering experiences. We will also shine a light on how others perceive their identities, as well as consider what the representatives of the LGBTQ+ community would like to say to Ukrainian society and the international community as well.
Public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine
Similar to many other places, gender-nonconforming LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine still face systemic discrimination. The ongoing challenges include hate crimes, obstacles to marriage registration, discrimination in the job market, etc. According to ILGA-Europe, in 2022, Ukraine was ranked 39th out of 49 European countries regarding the legal framework to ensure the rights and freedoms of the LGBTQ+ community. Yet, it is important to note that no country mentioned in the ILGA report has reached a 100% inclusion rate and totally eradicated discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community. In Ukraine, the situation with LGBTQ+ rights is similar to other countries of the former “socialist bloc.” Moreover, Ukraine showed better results (19% of inclusion) when compared to such EU countries as Poland (12%) and Romania (18%). Thus, in the context of Ukraine, it is important to look at the dynamics, note positive developments, and continue promoting the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community to ensure the sustainability of these changes.
Researcher Maryna Shevtsova has noted that there was a spike in LGBTQ+ activism in the post-Maidan period. She argues that this activism spike can be explained by the community’s frustration with the newly elected government’s lack of support. She also notes that this activism spike happened at a strategically important moment when Ukraine was preparing to join the EU. It is likely that this combination of factors facilitated improvements in the legal framework as well as in attitudes of Ukrainian society towards LGBTQ+ people recently.
Since 2015, the Labor Code of Ukraine prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2022, new amendments were also introduced to the Law on Advertising and the Law on Media. Among other things, these new amendments prohibit mentioning sexual orientation as a requirement in job listings. Moreover, the media are banned from disseminating statements that incite discrimination or harassment, including discrimination and harassment towards the LGBTQ+ community. Importantly, since the start of the full-scale war, the issue of civil unions has become more urgent. In spring 2023, a petition “For registered partnerships for same-sex and different-sex couples,” after receiving the required number of votes, was considered by the Office of the President of Ukraine. In response to the petition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he is committed to this initiative. However, he also noted that there are legal restrictions to making the necessary changes to the Constitution during martial law or the state of emergency.
According to the Human Rights Center “Nash Svit,” the attitude of Ukrainian society towards LGBTQ+ people has been steadily improving over the past eight years. They conducted a total of three surveys over this period (in 2016, 2022, and 2023). They note that the share of people who express negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people was steadily decreasing from 60.4% to 38.2% and then to 33.9%. In 2023, the share of those who had a positive attitude towards LGBTQ+ people was 15.5%, while 45.3% of respondents had a neutral attitude. In 2016, these numbers were 3.3% and 30.7%, respectively. The 2022 and 2023 surveys also indicate that the number of people who support the adoption of a law on same-sex partnerships has increased from 23.6% to 28%. Although a relative majority remains opposed to partnerships, this number is decreasing: it was 38.9% in 2023 and 41.9% in 2022. Thus, it is clear that Ukrainian society in general is moving towards greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Yet, it is also important to know about LGBTQ+ people in the military.
LGBTQ+ people and the Ukrainian army
The first person serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine to come out publicly was Viktor Pylypenko in 2018. Pylypenko also founded an NGO, the “Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights.” Although homosexuality has been decriminalized since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, de facto people often conceal their sexual orientation out of fear of being judged. This situation is reminiscent of the controversial American “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” or DADT policy that existed from 1993 to 2011. DADT allowed gay people to serve in the military on the condition that they would not disclose their sexual orientation. While it looked like a progressive policy, in practice, it led to “witch hunts” and hurt group dynamics. In Ukraine, then, at the legal/declarative level, the situation with LGBTQ+ people in the army was more advantageous for non-heteronormative people than in the US. As of 2023, LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine served in at least 52 units. Still, the first coming out happened only 27 years after Ukraine’s independence and four years after the start of Russian aggression. Why so late?
Researcher Anika Burges (2023) and civil society activist Inna Iryskina (2023) argue that the war led to a series of positive changes for LGBTQ+ people. For many, fear of Russian occupation and fear of losing what has already been achieved in the legal sphere turned out to be greater than potential homophobia and transphobia in the Armed Forces. Moreover, the presence of openly LGBTQ+ people in the army who are fighting in this war also had a positive impact on promoting the rights and freedoms of the community. It is noteworthy that in the US in the mid-20th century, the military was also very active in the movement against the criminalization of LGBTQ+ people. For instance, a serviceman named Frank Kameny founded a branch of the Mattachine Society in 1950, one of the first gay rights organizations in the US. After his coming out, Kameny was discharged from the army and then also lost his lawsuit for reinstatement. Although he lost the case, Frank Kameny’s story gave a powerful impetus to the community’s struggle for rights and pushed towards greater inclusion for LGBTQ+ people. This story is yet another testament to the fact that broader sociopolitical changes and service in the military are connected.
Going back to the context of Ukraine, it is important to mention research that explores discrimination of various groups in the Armed Forces and the perception of LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine. Unfortunately, studies that inquire about the experiences of discrimination often have methodological limitations that are related to stigma and reluctance of discriminated groups to share negative experiences. Because the findings of these studies are often extensively discussed by the media, this also leads to methodological limitations, as some people may feel pressured to exaggerate or downplay the prevalence of a certain phenomenon or the severity of a problem. According to the surveys, approximately 40% of respondents think that LGBTQ+ people in the military experience discrimination (Rating 2023) and 34% of respondents think that LGBTQ+ people, both in the military and in society at large, experience discrimination because of their sexual orientation (KIIS 2023). It is worth noting that these figures reflect only the perception of discrimination against LGBT people by others and do not reflect the actual experiences of people from the community.
Interviews with community representatives —these interviews were conducted as part of the same study by the Sociological Group Rating — show that the kind of discrimination that LGBTQ+ people face most often is manifested by offensive humour or bullying. There weren’t recorded any cases of formal discrimination, such as lower salaries, forced transfers to other units, or failure to provide medical care. Psychological assistance, unfortunately, is an exception to this rule because psychologists themselves sometimes have biases. However, the respondents critiqued psychologists’ low qualifications, pointing out that their attitudes towards minorities are part of a bigger pattern. The respondents also noted that a lot depends on the commanding officer.
It is interesting that when speaking about coming out, many respondents made arguments reminiscent of the American DADT policy: many community members consider sexual orientation to be a private matter. There were openly homophobic people among the respondents, as well as those who did not want to serve with LGBTQ+ people at all. Unfortunately, there were also cases of outing. LGBTQ+ people in the military offset the negative consequences of coming out or outing with their personal psychological resilience and support from close friends and commanding officers. Many people in the military continue to hide their sexual orientation. Despite the above-mentioned cases of negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, the authors of the Rating study note that in general, the instances of discrimination against the community have become less frequent. They explain these changes by noting the context of the full-scale invasion, when many people from the community joined the military and became volunteers.
Studies by Rating and KIIS that focus on LGBT people still shine the light mostly on the experiences of those groups within the community that are closer to the heteronormative standard. To paint a whole picture, we decided to talk to gender non-conforming people who serve in the military or volunteer. Their contribution to bringing the victory closer should also be recognized and appreciated, just like the contribution of other military personnel, and their identities deserved to be accepted by the society they seek to protect.
Stories of gender-nonconforming people in the army and volunteers
Kafa, Klema (they/she)
Service officer in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, aerial reconnaissance officer
“In 2014, when russia seized the Crimean Peninsula by force, my life changed dramatically. I had to live under occupation for almost a year. When I turned 15, I moved to Kyiv to go to high school.”
In Kyiv, while studying at the Taras Shevchenko National University, she fought against harassment and managed to get a professor who was harassing students fired. Unfortunately, because of the pressure and bullying, she dropped out of college in Ukraine and moved to Germany, where she lived until the full-scale war broke out. Then she decided to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
“I decided to start preparing for joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine: I trained, started running, and reading books about tactics, topography, and communications. When I returned to Ukraine, I took classes on aerial reconnaissance, and with time, I joined my brothers and sisters in arms. I think that combat work is what my life has prepared me for. All my experience as a human being crystallized in this.”
This is how she describes her gender identity and her role in the army:
“I don’t consider myself a woman, I don’t consider myself a man. I do not accept this gender norm. I am a combat unit. Furthermore, I am a person who exists outside this [gender norm]. I cannot fit myself into the gender norm, and I do not consider it necessary.”
Speaking about discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in the Armed Forces, the most important thing is the people around you:
“There are no [direct experiences of discrimination against different LGBTQ+ groups], but building from the experiences of other people, I can say that everybody faces difficulties in different ways. Both men and women in the army can be homophobic, so it really depends on the people around you. In my experience, I can say that many people gossip behind my back, but I have not seen any direct conflicts. People I work with are tolerant, so there are no problems with this in my team.”
Kafa said that the experience of discrimination during her life under occupation is an important motivation to defend freedom in the Armed Forces:
“I speak about my identity very openly and publicly, it is a matter of representation. I came out to my brigade, but not everybody understood it, and that’s okay too. It is a complicated topic. I consider representation important because of my experience of living under occupation, because of what I saw with my own eyes in Crimea. It was impossible to be different. But everyone has the right to love and to live freely. This is what I am fighting for. For myself, for a free life of my future children and of those who will live in a free, united, and sovereign Ukraine. In a country that was built for them. I am fighting for the words like “human rights,” “inclusion,” and “freedom of speech” to have a meaning: I don’t want them to be merely pronounced as a norm without any de facto meaning. I believe we have already built a foundation for that. The main thing is not to give up now and to fight for what you believe in.”
Helena Mark (she)
A servicewoman
Trans girl
Helena’s experience is less positive:
“When the full-scale war started, I had already been serving for a year and a half, as I had signed a contract. I joined the military intending to go to war. I had some rosy ideas about “brotherhood and unity.” I completed my basic military training and just before my first deployment (which did not happen), I was diagnosed with a disease that does not allow me to go to war, so all my plans for service were ruined. Nataliia Bulakh (a doctor and an officer), chief medical officer of the unit at that time, made my illness and involvement with the LGBTQ+ community public and started a campaign of bullying, harassment, and attacks on me. This lasted for ten months.”
Then Helen became acquainted with Viktor Pylypenko, the head of the NGO “Ukrainian LGBT+ Military for Equal Rights,” who helped her:
“Meeting Viktor saved me. He provided me with clear instructions on how to counteract discrimination and protect myself in the army, he supported me, and made my story public. This helped to protect me. I, personally, felt how my desire to serve my country was shattered by cruelty and intolerance towards my otherness. Before the full-scale invasion, I was winning my fight against the homophobic leadership and the personnel who did those terrible things.”
“After serving in the army for two years, I gained enough courage to recognize and accept myself as a transgender girl. I have already started my transition.”
Helen explained how she decided to come out in the army:
“I realized that I no longer had any strength to pretend and refer to myself in the masculine gender and to be called by my old name. So, I decided to put on makeup and to go to the morning exercise routine this way, so that no one would have any more questions or doubts. I was scared to do it, so I secretly put on makeup and went to the exercise routine carrying pepper spray. The day of my coming out was the same day as other important events, so no one really cared about me. My superiors expressed support and even addressed me in the feminine gender.”
Relationships with her colleagues remain challenging, but Helen’s efforts have yielded positive results:
“My relationship with my colleagues is bad because they support patriarchy. They represent toxic masculinity and despise everything that is not part of their world-view. I have more progressive views and I constantly talk to them about feminism. We often clash over this. However, I often educate my colleagues about LGBTQ+ people and normalization, and many people have changed their attitudes for the better after talking to me.”
Antonina (she/her)
Mortar operator, theatre director, actress, and performer
Non-binary
Like Kafa, Antonina also comes from Crimea, and she has also suffered from russian occupation:
“I was born in Simferopol’ and I lived there until 2014. I tried to resist the occupation and the annexation of Crimea [by coordinating volunteer aid for the Ukrainian military]. The occupation authorities disliked this, and the FSB began to suspect that I was helping the Right Sector movement in Crimea. This, of course, was a lie. But I was forced to flee Simferopol’.”
Building her life anew, she decided to pursue creative professions and became a theatre director and an actress. However, Antonina chose to fight against the occupiers once again after the outbreak of the full-scale war:
“Before February 24th I was a director, a performer, and an actress. I had a series of opening nights planned at the Playwrights’ Theatre. But then the full-scale [war] started.
I had three options before me: to leave the city, to stay in a bomb shelter, or to join the Territorial Defence Forces. We chose the latter. At the Territorial Defence Forces, my partner Sashko and I spent two days sleeping in the same clothes on the floor, on the tiles, on some cardboard we had found. Later, volunteers came, and things started to trickle in. Now we have everything we need. We are fed, we have enough water. We have sleeping mats and sleeping bags.
For some time, we were in the Kyiv Territorial Defence Forces. Now, though, we are mortar operators on the frontlines. Before February 24th, neither Sahsko nor I held a rifle or a mortar launcher. We got mortar training already at the firing positions. When we were trained to operate it, we already had to fire at the enemy. I never thought that I would fight with weapons in my hands. But after the full-scale invasion, I decided that this is the only right way for me now.
I fought in the Kherson, Kharkiv and Bakhmut regions. But I remember the Kherson region the most, I got my first combat experience there.”
Antonina does not identify either as a man or a woman:
“I chose to be a non-binary person. I use she/her pronouns to problematize the gender that I look like.”
Coming out to her unit made her life more comfortable. Antonina is fortunate that other soldiers in her unit are accepting.
“I came out one year before the full-scale invasion. I worked in a theatre group, so it was a pampered environment. Everything went very smoothly then and didn’t affect the work process at all. Yet, I felt that my life had changed and that I had changed as well. I am also happy with my platoon. Everyone in my platoon is very tolerant. The first question my commanding officer asked me was about my pronouns.”
“We were told to come up with a call sign. I immediately chose ‘Antonina’ as a call sign to dot the ‘I’ and to not explain anything to anyone. No one still understands what a non-binary person is. But now is not the right time to lecture people in the army on gender identities. People will catch up on the go. Usually, people refer to me using the pronoun ‘he,’ but many of my brothers and sisters-in-arms use ‘she,’ which is very nice.”
“Many people volunteered to join the army after the full-scale invasion. There were also LGBTQ+ people among them. This produced a wave of coming outs in the army. This, in turn, took the discussion about LGBTQ+ people in the army to a new level. People started talking about their rights. There is an immediate need to adopt a law on civil partnerships. The level of homophobia, transphobia, and sexism decreased. We still have work to do, but it is obvious that there are positive changes in the sphere of human rights in Ukraine. There are still many problems, but we are getting closer and closer to European values and further away from our post-Soviet trauma.”
In addition to military service, people from the LGBTQI+ community are also actively involved in volunteering. They raise money for the needs of the army and civilians, organize charity events, and even have their own small charity foundations. The volunteers told us how the war affected their activism and the peculiarities of how the community is perceived during the war.
Edward Reese (he/him)
Activist, former communications manager at KyivPride
Queer
Edward was born in Dnipro and lived there until 2019. For a long time, together with his partner, Edward was an animal rights activist, organizing Dnipro Marches for Animals (in their capacity as UAnimals volunteers) and different charity events and film festivals to help animals. After a twelve-year-long abusive relationship and partner violence, he moved to Kyiv. From 2020 to 2023, he worked for a KyivPride NGO, holding various positions. He also volunteered at the organizations like Insight and Transgeneration. He plunged into civic activism from the sphere of IT:
“[I turned to activism] when it became too difficult to continue living in the closet and hiding that I am transgender. There [in IT] people wouldn’t have understood it.”
In 2014, when the war started, Edward was helping wounded soldiers in Dnipro hospitals. When the full-scale invasion began, he managed to help a lot from abroad:
“I was a refugee in Denmark for some time. (…) I also attended ten European prides as a leader of the Ukrainian column and a speaker… I have addressed foreign queer audiences, politicians and celebrities in partner countries, and representatives of international organizations. I talk to them about Ukraine, about the war, about Russian crimes and the danger of Russian cultural expansion, about the need to provide us with weapons and humanitarian aid. Furthermore, I am proud of my speech this year on the main stage at Berlin Pride. This is one of the largest pride events in Europe — thousands of people (…) were listening [to me talking] about the heroism of the Ukrainian people. In Germany, people don’t usually speak badly about russians. Yet, we do it. We also raise funds abroad to help the Defence Forces of Ukraine. We also organize fundraisers for our colleagues from KyivPride who joined the military.”
Describing the complexity of his identity, Edward plans to continue fighting for the rights and comfort of queer people in Ukraine:
“I am neither a woman nor a man. I have never identified myself with either of these concepts. My consciousness and self-understanding exist on another plane, parallel to the M/F division. One’s set of genitals does not necessarily coincide with whom a person really is. So, neither set fits me. Although I still have one of these two letters in my passport, I will soon have another one. In Ukraine, unfortunately, it is not yet possible to have a third gender marker in your passport. After the victory, I will work on making it possible.”
Now, Edward is an independent activist who is not involved with any NGO. He works on promoting information about trans people in his online blogs. He said their situation is particularly difficult because they are virtually invisible to the state, both in the military and society. Moreover, it is not always possible to advocate for their rights at NGOs. Edward believes that it is important to democratize civil society organizations to strengthen the institution of reputation in Ukrainian activism.
Speaking about the attitudes towards trans people in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, his views echo the Rating study. Edward believes that the same prejudice that exists in society at large also exists in the army:
“I think that in the context of war, we are seeing the same old inequality in the attitudes towards gay people, bisexuals, and transgender people. Ukraine is not unique in this regard; it is a difficult topic — the fact that quite often the problems of transgender people are considered to be less important than the problems of gay people. I have seen many gay and lesbian activists saying ‘Let us solve the issue of civil partnerships first, the issue of inequality, and then maybe we will think about transpeople’.”
Edward said that he had also encountered this problem in other countries when talking to trans activists. Laws and regulations restricting access to necessary medical care make the situation especially dire. In Ukraine, few trans and non-binary people in the military are open about their identities. Unfortunately, those few face great difficulties:
“Their needs and problems are not discussed. I know several trans people who are currently in the army on the frontlines and have difficulties getting their medications, hormonal medications. Some even refuse to take their meds and decide to pause their transition for some time — while they are in the army, so that transitioning will not create additional problems.”
Instead of conclusions
Undoubtedly, military service and volunteering during full-scale war are big challenges for everyone. The Ukrainian army is fighting against a superior enemy force. This forces yesterday’s civilians to fight without having an end in sight. The need to constantly advocate for oneself and to look for resources to support resistance to russian aggression is an exhausting and often invisible work. Based on the stories of our interlocutors, it is clear that there still are many problems with how the LGBTQ+ community is perceived in Ukraine. This is especially relevant for trans and non-binary people, who are practically invisible and do not experience those small developments that make the lives of gay people at least partially better. On the other hand, the full-scale war has contributed to an unprecedented mobilization and promoted cohesion within Ukrainian society. It helped to lessen prejudice against LGBTQ+ people, who have demonstrated that they are an active part of society and that they value freedom and contribute to the fight against the occupiers. Of course, there is still room for improvement and democratization. Together with Kafa, Helen, Antonina, and Edward, we believe that Ukraine will not only win this war but will also emerge as a space where human rights will not depend on gender, sex, or sexuality.
We believe that a moment of crisis can be a window of opportunity for positive transformations. Ukrainian society at large and the LGBTQ+ community in particular are already doing a lot to make such changes possible. However, Ukraine cannot win this war alone. If you can influence the government in the country where you are located — demand that Ukraine continues to receive military and humanitarian aid. Think about the stories of Helen, Antonina, and Edward. Remember that many people are forced to live under russian occupation. We are counting on your solidarity. Your solidarity is crucial for Ukraine’s victory and for ensuring that the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ movement continues to collect accomplishments.
Disclaimer:
This text builds on the interviews published by Feminist Lodge in summer-fall 2023.
The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the position of the members of the organisation.