Ukraine: LGBTQ+ Rights, War, and Fight for Equality

In Ukraine, LGBTQ+ community battles for equality amid war. Landmark legal wins face opposition. KharkivPride champions freedom near Russian border. Volunteers defend Ukraine while fighting for rights.

As quickly as Levchuk tipped outside, he saw a group of his friends from the LGBTQ neighborhood applauding and jumping with pleasure, holding vivid banners in their hands: “Our household is real!” and “Household is above the stereotypes!” Overwhelmed with feelings, Levchuk broke into tears. His companion of 13 years, Kis, promptly stalked him. They embraced, as their buddies cheered the very first lawful gay marital relationship victory in Ukraine.

Legal Victory for Same-Sex Couple

Levchuk and Kis waited for Ukraine to expand even more forgiving for years. On July 10 this year, Kyiv’s district court identified the fact of a “one-sex couple of spouses,” giving the couple a legal right to a marital relationship. That was an initial in Ukraine’s background.

A Kharkiv Pride news release notes 17 cars “drove with the city to draw attention to the significance of making certain civils rights for all through legislation.” Upwards of 50 individuals: LGBTQ people, servicemembers, volunteers, and activists, joined the occasion lasted regarding an hour.

Offering us a tour of the club on a recent night, Pylypenko explained a portrait on the wall surface of another war hero, the newly chosen leader of the “Ukrainian LGBT Military Worker and Veterans for Equal Rights” NGO, Oleksandr Demenko. He is a survivor of the terrible fight for Mariupol and 20 months of dreadful jail time in Russia.

Kharkiv Pride: Equality and Independence

“If we don’t combat for freedom, who will do it? Our country would certainly look bad if we quit. This is not just regarding LGBTQ, this is about flexibility, freedom and the spirit that you can battle for something that is right,” she stated.

“The united state government should not repeat the same blunder: not having the appropriate activities behind the best ideas,” he states on the Evangelical Emphasis, an electrical outlet that defines its objective as “aiding develop bridges between evangelical churches and all of society.” He continues to trumpet his reason: “Ukraine unlike numerous European countries is the country where LGBT flags are still not flown on government structures, where individuals are not fined for hoping.”.

Innovative workshops, consisting of a Queer Collection Marathon and a slogan-making session, permit individuals to reveal personal tales, feelings, and ideas via art and layout. PrideFest likewise features mindfulness and leisure sessions, first-aid training, and psychological consultations.

As many self-defense volunteers, Pylypenko, signed up with to defend his nation in the Eastern regions of Ukraine. On coming home to Kyiv, Pylypenko attempted to rebuild his calm life, went to university and ended up a master’s program in technical and scientific translation from English and French.

LGBTQ+ Veterans on the Frontlines

KharkivPride mirrors an one-of-a-kind reality: the battle for LGBTQ+ equality is intertwined with the defend Ukraine’s independence. KharkivPride 2025 will start at the end of August with a two-day PrideFest, a charitable event.

The Insight community center is a comfortable residence in the hipster component of Kyiv’s old town, Podil. For virtually 4 years, Understanding lobbyists have been supplying help, legal assistance and sanctuary for their community, arranging art shows and participating in pro-democracy and anti-corruption projects.

Insight Community Center: A Safe Haven

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, lies only around 25 miles from the Russian border. Given that the beginning of the major invasion in 2022, the city has endured ruthless shelling, extensive devastation, and the consistent danger of further rise. Yet in spite of these dire situations, Kharkiv stays a sign of strength. For LGBTQ+ Ukrainians, that strength is shared through exposure and the continuous defend equal legal rights.

Among the recent talks got on “Practices for Non-Discrimination for LGBTQ individuals in the Workplace.” For lots of community participants, the office is currently the front, where they continue to combat and protect their country from Russian troops assaulting Ukraine’s eastern, north, and southerly areas. And on rejoining the community for a break, experts occupy a different fight, for their human rights, versus discrimination. Their battle does not stop on the front lines.

Prior to the Transformation of Self-respect in 2014, the absolute bulk of Ukrainians, up to 95 percent, did not support the idea of same-sex marriages, according to a social research carried out by GfK Ukraine, a social and market research team. However the change, the battle in the east and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has actually substantially changed the public view on the rights of minorities. In 2015, more than 70 percent of Ukrainians claimed that LGBTQ individuals must have the same rights as everyone else, according to a survey by the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv.

Public Opinion Shift on LGBTQ+ Rights

The battle has actually been taking a breath fatality, spoiling lives across his nation for nearly four years. Under martial law, the border was closed for males of Levchuk’s age. And now aggressive conservative protestors were attacking his marriage, his right to be delighted, to have a future.

“KharkivPride has moral and symbolic significance for our city and the whole country,” discusses Anna Sharyhina, co-organizer of KharkivPride and president of the Ball Female’ s Organization. “We live near the Russian boundary, and today Russia is a source of totalitarianism and lawlessness. For Ukrainians, flexibility and democracy are vital values. We wish to show that equality and respect for human rights are an indispensable part of our country’s advancement– specifically now, throughout the battle.”.

During the battle for Kyiv, his army was safeguarding the resources from the trenches on freezing cold night and day, and saved lives of their wounded brothers in arms by leaving them to health centers. Pylypenko’s armed forces experience was useful. And after Kyiv, he battled in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Some campaigns ended up “dreadful,” he said.

“3 days earlier, homophobes struck our center in Lviv and prior to that our facility in Ivano-Frankivsk; some hooligans stormed our exhibition in the city of Chernovtsy,” Shevchenko informed the Blade. They spray tear gas, frighten our protestors.”.

Opposition and Resilience

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

“At some point, I got my cellular phone with rainbow stickers from K-41 club; and my sergeant asked me if I was gay in front of everybody. I addressed of course. The commander, that was only 22 years old, did not have any kind of problems with that,” Pylypenko said.

“I always consume all the edges of the pizza, since I know that my siblings in arms do not have adequate food or enough water in jail now,” Demenko composed, sharing his feelings just recently with his Facebook viewers.

“This decision, this procedure of legislating my marital relationship took me so much time, so much initiative,” Levchuk proceeded. It is our sensations and our civil liberties that are being injured.”.

An embellished police officer, Demenko was among concerning 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers protecting Azov Steel, a large Soviet-era steel plant that was surrounded during the fight for the city of Mariupol from February to May, 2022.

(Editor’s note: The International Women’s Media Structure’s Ladies on the Ground: Coverage from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Initiative in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Structure funded this coverage.).

Even with the attacks and dangers, the area lives. Shevchenko, as several Ukrainians in the back, saw her defend civils rights and against corruption as equally as important as the fight on the frontline.

Challenges and the Fight for Survival

Despite Russian drones raining down on the resources, Kyiv’s gay armed forces and experienced community gathers in a freshly redecorated safe space called “K-41.” The club has been a boiling pot this summertime– Ukrainian, German, Dutch, and Portuguese DJs played songs on warm September nights, guests collected to dance, pay attention to talks, or see a film in the leafy garden outside.

“One team is called Carpathian Sich, another League, led by Dmytro Korchinsky and various brand-new groups and networks often released, like Custom and Order,” she said. “We noticed that they got some amount of money concerning a year back.

In 2015, Pylypenko had to surrender to deal with his dad, who was “like a baby after a stroke.” The regulation allowed that. Quickly after his return from the front, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church honored him for “Guts and Love for Ukraine.”.

Oleksandr Demenko, director of Ukrainian LGBT Military Worker and Veterans for Equal Rights, postures for a portrait, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 15, 2025.( Washington Blade image by Caroline Gutman).

International Support and Funding

Numerous LGBTQ+ Ukrainians are proactively associated with defending their country, whether on the frontlines or with volunteering. In action, KharkivPride has devoted to giving assistance in every way possible, with the charitable festival functioning as among these efforts, offering a method to increase funds for clinical and evacuation needs. At the same time, PrideFest creates an area for Ukrainian LGBTQ+ individuals and the bigger area to link and sustain each other.

( Editor’s note: The International Female’s Media Structure’s Ladies on the Ground: Reporting from Ukraine’s Unseen Frontlines Campaign in partnership with the Howard G. Buffett Foundation moneyed this coverage. This report is unique to the Washington Blade.).

The attractive side, a middle-aged man, Kukharchuk, has actually been combating against LGBTQ for more than 20 years. Kukharchuk has actually been leading loads of protests against LGBTQ civil liberties. The Ukrainian Parliament voted for a brand-new law criminalizing any referral to homosexuality in the media or public domain in 2012.

“KharkivPride is a human rights civic motion, not just some kind of fun and enjoyment,” claimed Anna Sharyhina, co-organizer of Kharkiv Pride and head of state of the Round Women’s Association. “Kharkiv needs Kharkiv Pride– a vibrant and effective distinction from Russia. We strive to stay in a safe and totally free country and to have the very same civil liberties that heterosexual people currently delight in. On a daily basis, LGBTQ+ individuals contribute to the success, so the state has to ultimately provide us with security.”.

The complying with day, Sept. 6, KharkivPride will certainly finish with an AutoPride– a car-based march. Organizers presented this style in 2015 to reduce the risks of mass events under constant shelling. Registered participants drive through the city in enhanced cars and trucks, contacting Ukraine to embrace legislations identifying same-sex collaborations and to enhance accountability for hate criminal offenses.

Thirty-one-year-old Timur Levchuk was hurrying downstairs, away from the stale court, loaded with reporters, members of far-right groups and LGBTQ activists. The court hearing seemed like a battle in between beliefs. Words “family members” was the target– his family. Levchuk’s opponents from the conventional group Vsi Razom or Entirely, initiated the court hearing to dissolve his marriage. He was attempting to keep back his emotions.

Levchuk and Kis are not versus Christian followers. They believe in Ukraine’s tolerance and respect for the rights of minorities. It’s been a lengthy and tough path for both longtime LGBTQ lobbyists. To check their hometown of Kyiv for homophobia, both in 2015 on a summer day walked around the town hall, holding each various other’s hands. Their pals were filming public response to the gay pair’s open stroll. It seemed serene, at first. Pedestrians looked but did not disrespect the pair till both sat down on a bench on the main road of Khreshchatyk. 3 guys attacked them, kicking Levchuk and Kiss, and spraying them with tear gas. The video of the fierce assault went viral.

“I gave thanks to the church and Patriarch Filaret, formerly popular for mentioning that gays had developed COVID-19. I expressed my hopes that the clergyman would decline his homophobia; but right away, the very same day he terminated his medal to me,” Pylypenko claimed. “Right away, a flash mob began, soldiers that had previously gotten that same medal denounced it in solidarity with me. The soldiers’ league is terrific.”.

That decision was “unacceptable” to Kukharchuk and the Vsi Razom group; they appealed the court choice. When asked what brought him to the Kyiv Court of Appeal on Sept. 10, Kukharchuk stated: “We absolutely believe that the Constitution gets on our side. It really securely emphasizes the interpretation and underlines of marital relationship– it can just be a union between one guy and one woman, so our position in court is really clear.”.

However the conflict with Russia did not stop; it escalated to Russia’s full-blown invasion beforehand the early morning of Feb. 24, 2022. Pylypenko was visiting his parents in the community of Borodianka, a suburban area north of Kyiv. Russian shelling exploded and melted structures in Borodianka, killing hundreds of civilians.

The fight for survival during the war is tiring. The fight for human rights in the war-torn nation is tiring. The LGBTQ area is vibrant, well-organized and energetic in Ukraine. Its activists across the nation fight for civils rights, judicial reform and versus corruption along with popular civil liberties groups. Olena Shevchenko, 42-year-old leader of Insight, a team focusing on LGBTQ and feminist advocacy, claims there is no time at all to live: “I have extinction. I have a constant fight.”.

The event program mirrors the truths of Ukraine today, blending activism, charity, and sensible skills. Individuals can participate in lectures on subjects such as volunteer fundraising, how to protect against or process trauma as a witness to battle, uniformity and trans rights, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ people serving in the armed force.

Pride and Remembrance

“We hear that our challengers from Vsi Razom, the group battling the court decision acknowledging our marriage, is sustained by the united state basic Christian groups. This is stunning. We are attacked on the money from what made use of to be the globe’s best freedom,” Levchuk informed the Blade.

“Zorian had to travel from Israel for this hearing today, for simply someday, and fifty percent of our day was stolen from us by this conservative group, which acts just like Russian homophobes,” Kis told the Washington Blade.

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

“We hear that our opponents from the conventional Vsi Razom group, obtain financing from the Christian groups in the united state,” Levchuk informed the Blade. “It’s difficult to understand that our right to be pleased is being questioned in the country of the best democracy on the planet, the United States.”.

“Elton John and his partner, David Furnish, acquired a photograph by Glazzard in May and gave funds for our reconstruction of this center,” Pylypenko informed the Blade. “We fixed both spaces of the room nicely, got furnishings and the film display for our LGBTQ professionals– the largest neighborhood for an army in Eastern Europe.”.

On Sept. 5, organizers will hold a memorial activity to honor LGBTQ+ Ukrainian protectors who have actually lost their lives considering that the beginning of the war. A number of them might not securely express their identities while offering, making a tribute both this remembrance to their contributions and a statement on the significance of equal rights.

The transformation, the battle in the east and the Russian intrusion of Ukraine has actually substantially changed the public view on the civil liberties of minorities. They think in Ukraine’s resistance and respect for the rights of minorities. Levchuk and Kis waited for Ukraine to grow even more tolerant for years.” For many neighborhood participants, the work environment is currently the front, where they continue to battle and protect their country from Russian soldiers striking Ukraine’s eastern, north, and southerly regions. The LGBTQ neighborhood is vibrant, efficient and energetic in Ukraine.

“Soldiers and veterans appear and stick their insignias to this wall surface– we have welcomed greater than 700 members right into our LGBTQ professional and armed forces club,” one of the center’s creators, 38-year-old veteran, Victor Pylypenko, told the Washington Blade with pride. Honestly gay, he volunteered and fought for his nation from 2014-2016 and after that again from 2022-2024.

“Although that in Kyiv Satisfaction has actually already happened for 2 consecutive years in the format of a road march, the safety dangers in Kharkiv are greater, as the city is located in eastern Ukraine, close to the Russian boundary,” stated Kharkiv Satisfaction. “Consequently, for the 2nd year straight, the Kharkiv Pride group selected a motorcade format– it permits them to convey crucial messages while taking safety risks right into account as high as possible.”.

Ongoing Struggles

Demenko and his partner just recently became engaged, and the defend the legalization of gay marital relationship came to be personal. Both Pylypenko and Demenko pertained to Kyiv’s Court of Appeals last month to support the very first legal marital relationship.

To the terrific happiness of all Ukrainian LGBTQ pairs, Kyiv’s appeal court confirmed the reality of the two men living in “a family” on Sept. 10. It acknowledged their marital relationship. However the victory really felt bittersweet. The powers behind their opponents remained in the USA, the spouses told the Blade.