Ukraine: LGBTQ+ Rights, War, and Resilience

Despite war, Ukraine's LGBTQ+ community fights for equality, battling homophobia and Russian aggression. Landmark court decisions offer hope amid ongoing challenges and US-funded opposition.

Levchuk and Kis awaited Ukraine to grow even more tolerant for years. Kyiv denied their marital relationship in 2021, “as a result of the truth that according to the legislation of Ukraine, the principle of marriage is defined as a family union of a lady and a guy.” In 2014, Kis was assigned to operate in the Ukrainian consular office in Israel; and because all polite households had a right to live together on diplomatic objectives, he started to eliminate in court for his partner’s right to take a trip abroad. Men are banned from traveling abroad under martial legislation guidelines intended to prevent draft dodging. Last year, Kyiv’s court chose to “reject the proceedings.” But on July 10 this year, Kyiv’s area court identified the reality of a “one-sex couple of partners,” offering the couple a lawful right to a marriage. That was a first in Ukraine’s history.

Historic Legal Victory for Same-Sex Couple

Throughout the fight for Kyiv, his squad was protecting the capital from the trenches on freezing cold night and day, and saved lives of their wounded siblings in arms by leaving them to healthcare facilities. Pylypenko’s army experience served. And after Kyiv, he fought in the Sumy and Kharkiv areas. Some projects ended up “tragic,” he claimed.

The adhering to day, Sept. 6, KharkivPride will finish with an AutoPride– a car-based march. Coordinators introduced this layout last year to minimize the dangers of mass celebrations under constant shelling. Registered participants drive via the city in enhanced autos, getting in touch with Ukraine to take on laws acknowledging same-sex partnerships and to enhance accountability for hate criminal activities.

KharkivPride: Equality During Wartime

( Editor’s note: The International Women’s Media Structure’s Females on the Ground: Coverage from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation funded this coverage. This record is exclusive to the Washington Blade.).

“Three days back, homophobes attacked our center in Lviv and before that our facility in Ivano-Frankivsk; some criminals stormed our event in the city of Chernovtsy,” Shevchenko told the Blade. They spray tear gas, terrify our activists.”.

“We hear that our challengers from the conventional Vsi Razom group, obtain financing from the Christian groups in the united state,” Levchuk told the Blade. “It’s difficult to understand that our right to be happy is being questioned in the country of the best democracy in the world, the USA.”.

Last year, Pylypenko needed to surrender to deal with his father, that was “like a baby after a stroke.” The regulation allowed that. Soon after his return from the front, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church recognized him for “Courage and Love for Ukraine.”.

“This decision, this procedure of legalizing my marriage took me so much time, so much initiative,” Levchuk continued. It is our feelings and our legal rights that are being harmed.”.

One of the current talks was on “Practices for Non-Discrimination for LGBTQ individuals in the Work environment.” For numerous area members, the workplace is currently the front, where they continue to battle and protect their country from Russian troops attacking Ukraine’s eastern, northern, and southerly areas.

LGBTQ+ Activists on the Frontlines

Oleksandr Demenko, supervisor of Ukrainian LGBT Armed Force Personnel and Veterans for Equal Legal rights, postures for a portrait, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 15, 2025.( Washington Blade photo by Caroline Gutman).

“Zorian needed to travel from Israel for this hearing today, for simply one day, and fifty percent of our day was taken from us by this traditional group, which acts similar to Russian homophobes,” Kis informed the Washington Blade.

“If we do not deal with for democracy, who will do it? Our nation would look negative if we stop. This is not simply concerning LGBTQ, this is about liberty, freedom and the spirit that you can combat for something that is right,” she stated.

Community Support and Resilience

Even with the attacks and threats, the neighborhood lives. Shevchenko, as many Ukrainians in the back, saw her fight for civils rights and against corruption as just as important as the fight on the frontline.

Levchuk and Kis are not against Christian believers. They count on Ukraine’s resistance and regard for the legal rights of minorities. It’s been a lengthy and tough path for the two longtime LGBTQ protestors. To test their home town of Kyiv for homophobia, the two in 2015 on a summer season day strolled around the town hall, holding each other’s hands. Their close friends were shooting public reaction to the gay pair’s open stroll. It seemed tranquil, at. Pedestrians stared but did not insult the couple till the two sat down on a bench on the central road of Khreshchatyk. Three men attacked them, kicking Levchuk and Kiss, and splashing them with tear gas. The video clip of the fierce attack went viral.

An enhanced policeman, Demenko was amongst regarding 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers defending Azov Steel, a giant Soviet-era steel plant that was surrounded during the battle for the city of Mariupol from February to Might, 2022.

Yet the dispute with Russia did not stop; it rose to Russia’s full-blown invasion early on the early morning of Feb. 24, 2022. Pylypenko was seeing his parents in the community of Borodianka, a residential area north of Kyiv. Russian shelling blew up and burned buildings in Borodianka, killing thousands of private citizens.

The change, the battle in the east and the Russian intrusion of Ukraine has actually substantially transformed the public sight on the legal rights of minorities. They believe in Ukraine’s resistance and regard for the rights of minorities. Levchuk and Kis waited for Ukraine to expand even more tolerant for years.” For several community members, the office is currently the front, where they proceed to combat and protect their nation from Russian troops attacking Ukraine’s eastern, northern, and southerly regions. The LGBTQ community is dynamic, energetic and efficient in Ukraine.

A Kharkiv Pride press release keeps in mind 17 autos “drove through the city to accentuate the value of making sure human rights for all through regulation.” Upwards of 50 people: LGBTQ individuals, activists, servicemembers, and volunteers, participated in the event lasted about an hour.

(Editor’s note: The International Female’s Media Foundation’s Ladies on the Ground: Coverage from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Campaign in collaboration with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation funded this coverage.).

The Understanding recreation center is a comfortable house in the hipster component of Kyiv’s old community, Podil. For almost four years, Understanding protestors have been supplying aid, legal assistance and sanctuary for their neighborhood, arranging art displays and participating in anti-corruption and pro-democracy campaigns.

“Eventually, I took out my cellular phone with rainbow stickers from K-41 club; and my sergeant asked me if I was gay before everybody. I addressed yes. The leader, that was just 22 years old, did not have any kind of troubles with that said,” Pylypenko said.

“Elton John and his companion, David Furnish, bought a photograph by Glazzard in Might and provided funds for our reconstruction of this facility,” Pylypenko informed the Blade. “We fixed both areas of the room perfectly, acquired furnishings and the film display for our LGBTQ experts– the biggest area for a military in Eastern Europe.”.

“I always eat all the sides of the pizza, due to the fact that I know that my siblings in arms do not have sufficient food or sufficient water in jail today,” Demenko composed, sharing his emotions just recently with his Facebook viewers.

The fight for survival throughout the battle is tiring. The battle for human rights in the war-torn nation is tiring. The LGBTQ neighborhood is dynamic, energetic and efficient in Ukraine. Its lobbyists across the nation fight for human rights, judicial reform and against corruption along with popular constitutionals rights teams. Olena Shevchenko, 42-year-old leader of Understanding, a group focusing on LGBTQ and feminist activism, claims there is no time at all to live: “I have extinction. I have a consistent fight.”.

To most members of this area, the war started in 2014 with Russia linking the Crimean Peninsula. As numerous self-defense volunteers, Pylypenko, signed up with to protect his nation in the Eastern regions of Ukraine. He served for nearly 2 years. There was too much homophobia at the time, so he stayed in the closet throughout his solution. On coming home to Kyiv, Pylypenko tried to reconstruct his calm life, mosted likely to college and ended up a master’s program in technical and clinical translation from English and French.

The battle has been breathing fatality, ruining lives across his nation for nearly 4 years. At any moment, a rocket or drone can hit his home. Under martial legislation, the boundary was closed for men of Levchuk’s age. He had not been able to relocate along with his companion, a Ukrainian mediator, Zoryan Kis, who is uploaded on a mission abroad. Virtually every evening, he wakes up to air alerts, to Russia’s assaults. And currently hostile right-wing lobbyists were striking his marital relationship, his right to be delighted, to have a future.

“Veterans and soldiers appear and stick their insignias to this wall– we have actually welcomed greater than 700 members into our LGBTQ professional and armed forces club,” one of the center’s creators, 38-year-old professional, Victor Pylypenko, told the Washington Blade with satisfaction. Openly gay, he dealt with and volunteered for his nation from 2014-2016 and then once more from 2022-2024.

Changing Public Opinion in Ukraine

His partner of 13 years, Kis, quickly walked up to him. They hugged, as their close friends applauded the initial legal gay marriage success in Ukraine.

“KharkivPride has symbolic and moral importance for our city and the entire country,” describes Anna Sharyhina, co-organizer of KharkivPride and head of state of the Round Women’ s Organization. We desire to reveal that equality and respect for human rights are an integral component of our country’s development– particularly now, during the battle.”.

“One group is called Carpathian Sich, another Brotherhood, led by Dmytro Korchinsky and numerous brand-new teams and networks frequently launched, like Custom and Order,” she stated. “We noticed that they received some quantity of money concerning a year ago. They place about homophobic posters and hostile stickers– we can inform that the cash is involving them. If before, money originated from Russia, now they obtain funded from the U.S. too.”.

Anna Sharyhina, co-organizer of Kharkiv Pride and head of state of the Ball Women’s Organization, prepares to participate in KharkivPride in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 6, 2025. (Picture by Christina Pashkina).

Challenges and the Fight for Marriage

On Sept. 5, organizers will hold a memorial action to honor LGBTQ+ Ukrainian defenders that have actually lost their lives because the beginning of the battle. Many of them could not securely share their identifications while serving, making a tribute both this remembrance to their contributions and a declaration on the value of equal legal rights.

Before the Change of Dignity in 2014, the absolute majority of Ukrainians, up to 95 percent, did not support the concept of same-sex marriages, according to a social study performed by GfK Ukraine, a social and market research group. But the change, the battle in the eastern and the Russian intrusion of Ukraine has actually drastically changed the general public sight on the civil liberties of minorities. In 2015, greater than 70 percent of Ukrainians claimed that LGBTQ people ought to have the very same civil liberties as everyone else, according to a survey by the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv.

Offering us a trip of the club on a current evening, Pylypenko pointed out a picture on the wall of an additional war hero, the recently chosen leader of the “Ukrainian LGBT Armed Force Worker and Veterans for Equal Rights” NGO, Oleksandr Demenko. He is a survivor of the hellish battle for Mariupol and 20 months of dreadful jail time in Russia.

Kharkiv Pride & Ukraine’s Independence

“Although that in Kyiv Satisfaction has already happened for 2 consecutive years in the layout of a road march, the protection risks in Kharkiv are greater, as the city is located in eastern Ukraine, near to the Russian border,” stated Kharkiv Pride. “For that reason, for the second year straight, the Kharkiv Satisfaction team chose a motorcade layout– it permits them to communicate important messages while taking safety and security risks right into account as long as possible.”.

In spite of Russian drones raining down on the capital, Kyiv’s gay army and veteran neighborhood collects in a fresh redecorated safe space called “K-41.” The club has actually been a boiling pot this summer season– Ukrainian, German, Dutch, and Portuguese DJs played songs on warm September nights, visitors collected to dance, listen to talks, or see a motion picture in the leafed garden outside.

Thirty-one-year-old Timur Levchuk was rushing downstairs, away from the stale courtroom, packed with reporters, participants of reactionary teams and LGBTQ lobbyists. Levchuk’s opponents from the conventional group Vsi Razom or All Together, initiated the court hearing to dissolve his marriage.

The appealing side, a middle-aged male, Kukharchuk, has actually been battling versus LGBTQ for even more than 20 years. Kukharchuk has been leading loads of objections against LGBTQ legal rights. The Ukrainian Parliament elected for a new legislation outlawing any type of reference to homosexuality in the media or public domain in 2012.

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies just around 25 miles from the Russian border. Given that the beginning of the full-blown invasion in 2022, the city has sustained ruthless shelling, prevalent devastation, and the constant threat of further escalation. In spite of these dire circumstances, Kharkiv remains a sign of strength. For LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, that durability is shared through presence and the continuous defend equivalent legal rights.

Zoryan Kis and Timur Levchuk position for a picture with a group of pals and fans after their successful hearing at the Kyiv Court of Appeals, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 10, 2025. (Washington Blade image by Caroline Gutman).

“I said thanks to the church and Patriarch Filaret, formerly famous for stating that gays had created COVID-19. I shared my hopes that the priest would reject his homophobia; yet instantly, the exact same day he terminated his medal to me,” Pylypenko claimed. “Right away, a flash mob began, soldiers that had formerly gotten that same medal denounced it in solidarity with me. The soldiers’ league is great.”.

“The united state government should not repeat the same mistake: not having the ideal actions behind the right ideas,” he states on the Evangelical Emphasis, an outlet that explains its goal as “helping construct bridges between evangelical churches and all of society.” He continues to trumpet his cause: “Ukraine unlike many European nations is the nation where LGBT flags are still not flown on government buildings, where people are not fined for hoping.”.

Creative workshops, consisting of a Queer Collage Marathon and a slogan-making session, permit individuals to share personal stories, feelings, and ideas with art and style. PrideFest likewise includes mindfulness and leisure sessions, first-aid training, and mental consultations.

“We hear that our challengers from Vsi Razom, the team dealing with the court decision recognizing our marriage, is sustained by the U.S. fundamental Christian groups. This is shocking. We are assaulted accurate from what made use of to be the globe’s ideal freedom,” Levchuk told the Blade.

The festival program mirrors the realities of Ukraine today, blending advocacy, charity, and sensible skills. Participants can participate in talks on topics such as volunteer fundraising, exactly how to avoid or process trauma as a witness to war, uniformity and trans rights, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals serving in the armed force.

To the fantastic delight of all Ukrainian LGBTQ couples, Kyiv’s charm court validated the truth of both males living in “a household” on Sept. 10. It identified their marriage. However the triumph felt bittersweet. The powers behind their opponents remained in the USA, the partners told the Blade.

“KharkivPride is a civils rights public movement, not just some kind of enjoyable and home entertainment,” said Anna Sharyhina, co-organizer of Kharkiv Satisfaction and president of the Ball Women’s Organization. “Kharkiv needs Kharkiv Pride– a dazzling and effective distinction from Russia. We aim to live in a risk-free and cost-free nation and to have the exact same civil liberties that heterosexual people currently delight in. On a daily basis, LGBTQ+ individuals add to the victory, so the state has to ultimately supply us with defense.”.

Many LGBTQ+ Ukrainians are actively associated with protecting their nation, whether on the frontlines or via offering. In reaction, KharkivPride has actually devoted to giving support in every way feasible, with the philanthropic festival working as among these campaigns, offering a way to elevate funds for clinical and evacuation needs. At the same time, PrideFest develops an area for Ukrainian LGBTQ+ people and the larger community to link and support each various other.

That decision was “unacceptable” to Kukharchuk and the Vsi Razom group; they appealed the court decision. When asked what brought him to the Kyiv Court of Allure on Sept. 10, Kukharchuk claimed: “We absolutely believe that the Constitution is on our side. It extremely strongly highlights the interpretation and underscores of marital relationship– it can just be a union between one guy and one lady, so our position in court is really clear.”.

KharkivPride shows an one-of-a-kind fact: the battle for LGBTQ+ equality is linked with the fight for Ukraine’s self-reliance. KharkivPride 2025 will start at the end of August with a two-day PrideFest, a charitable event.

Demenko and his partner lately ended up being involved, and the fight for the legalization of gay marital relationship came to be individual. Both Pylypenko and Demenko involved Kyiv’s Court of Appeals last month to sustain the first legal marital relationship.