LGBT topics in the Russo-Ukrainian War

Last updated

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) topics have played a role in multiple aspects of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

Contents

After Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and the subsequent creation of the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic, two Russian puppet states in eastern Ukraine, thus beginning the Russo-Ukrainian War, the number of homophobic hate attacks - including those committed by the government - in Russia has sharply increased. Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, numerous cases of homophobic violence against LGBTQ Ukrainians by the Russian military have been documented. Russian authorities have also tightened domestic legislation discriminating against LGBTQ people during the invasion.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, ever since the Revolution of Dignity that established a more pro-Western course for the country's politics, acceptance of LGBTQ people gradually increased. Since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, that trend has intensified. The participation of LGBTQ Ukrainians in the military has served as an impetus for this change. The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology has noted a trend towards positive reception of LGBTQ people in the country over the time.

Background

Russia

Homophobia in Russia has been pushed by the Russian government as part of the larger narrative about "traditional values" of Russia as juxtaposed with the "immorality" of the Western world, and the subsequent civilizational mission of Russia. Russia is portrayed as a bastion of conservative values, such as tradition, a strict social hierarchy and sexual order, and the prominent role played by religion. Vladimir Putin invoked this rhetoric during the 2011–2013 Russian protests. Russian government policies have since formalized to oppress LGBT people and restrict women's rights in the country. [1]

Ukraine

Marchers at the KyivPride [uk] event in 2019 IAN76774.jpg
Marchers at the KyivPride  [ uk ] event in 2019

The first Ukrainian LGBT organizations emerged in the 1990s, and during the 2000s, local and international organizations, such as George Soros's International Renaissance Foundation, became important in the society of Ukraine's relationship with LGBT. Pride parades began to attain greater popularity and acceptance in the country in the 2010s, and by 2020 pride events were taking place not only in the capital Kyiv, but also in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, Kherson and Odesa. [2]

Since Euromaidan, Ukraine begun to pay more attention to LGBT rights. In 2015, a ban on workplace discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation was added to Ukrainian law. While domestic anti-LGBT movements weakened and lost popularity, Russia remained a source of homophobic sentiment exported into Ukraine. Russian authorities tried to promote ultra-conservative ideas in Ukraine and other countries to fight LGBT movements. Under the pro-Russian president Victor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian parliament introduced bills to ban "gay propaganda" similar to the Russian model three times. [2] [3]

During the Russo-Ukrainian War

LGBT rights in occupied territories of Ukraine from 2014 to 2022

Donbas

Contrary to perceptions of it being a conservative region, the Donbas in eastern Ukraine has traditionally been the most LGBT-supportive region in the country. This situation changed dramatically after the beginning of the war in Donbas, when pro-Russian militias seized vast areas in Luhansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast. Homophobia occupied an important place in the rhetoric of the groups. [4] In the occupied territories, systemic persecution and targeted killings of LGBTQ people began. The constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) included a ban on same-sex unions. In 2015, both the DPR and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) passed discriminatory "gay propaganda" laws along the lines of Russia's. Local LGBTQ organizations were quickly destroyed, and many LGBTQ people were forced to flee the Donbas. [5] [6] [7]

In August 2015, a blogger called the police office of the LPR, saying he wanted to file a report about a so-called "heterosexual brothel" in Luhansk city. The LPR representative replied that heterosexuality was prohibited in the republic and said he had sent a squad to the address - seemingly confusing heterosexuality (attraction to the opposite sex or gender) with homosexuality (attraction to the same sex or gender). [8] [9] [10]

Crimea

Since the times of the Soviet Union, when sodomy was a criminal offense, the Simeiz resort in Crimea has been a popular destination for LGBTQ tourism. There were LGBT-friendly bars in Sevastopol, and LGBTQ activists and organizations were included in Crimean public society. [11] [12] [13] After Russia's annexation of Crimea, discriminatory Russian laws came into effect in the region. Violence against LGBTQ people became more frequent, including by Russian security forces. The human rights organization Memorial documented cases in which police officers used torture to force LGBT Crimeans, as well as other vulnerable groups, to hand over their property and real estate. [14] [15] [16] [17] Many of the approximately 10,000 LGBTQ people in Crimea were forced to flee the region. [5]

During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine

In Vladimir Putin's address On conducting a special military operation in which he announced the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, his rationale for war included claims that he was protecting traditional values from Western progressive attitudes "that are directly leading to degradation and degeneration, because they are contrary to human nature" - referring to the acceptance and legal recognition of LGBT people in Western countries. [18]

In Ukrainian society, there has been a "sharp increase in support for the country’s LGBT community". In particular, support for same-sex civil partnerships has grown. [18] One of the biggest reasons for this is the participation of queer Ukrainians in the military during the war. A common argument for expanding LGBT rights in the country has been that they fight against the Russian invaders on an equal basis to any other Ukrainians. [2] [3] [18] In a 2022 study, even among respondents who expressed a negative view of LGBT people in general, 53.8% supported them being allowed into the military. Among respondents who expressed a generally positive view of LGBT people, support was 82.6%. There are other reasons as well. According to TIME Magazine, for some Ukrainians, "homophobia has become almost synonymous with Russian aggression", due to Putin's embrace of homophobia as a defining feature of his anti-Western rhetoric and policy. On the other hand, acceptance of queer people has been positively associated with the West and Europe, which Ukraine has tried to align itself with since the Revolution of Dignity. [18]

However, LGBTQ people have been made vulnerable in Ukraine during the invasion. In the first months of the invasion, transgender people in Ukraine faced shortages of transgender hormone therapy drugs, which international aid organizations helped to overcome. [19] Due to the closure of borders for men 18–60 years old in Ukraine, Ukrainian transgender women who had not completed their legal transition and still retained the "male" gender marker in their documents could not leave the country. [20] [19]

Currently, there are no same-sex civil partnerships in Ukraine. As a consequence, "if a queer [Ukrainian] soldier is injured or killed in action, the lack of legal recognition of same-sex partnerships means that their significant other will not be afforded the right to make medical decisions on their behalf, bury them, or collect any state compensation." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that he supports greater equality in response to petitions calling for legislation about same-sex marriage, but has said that such a move would require an amendment to the Ukrainian constitution, which "cannot be changed during a state of war or emergency." [18]

See also

Related Research Articles

Simeiz is a resort town, an urban-type settlement in Yalta Municipality in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized by a majority of countries as part of Ukraine and incorporated by Russia as the Republic of Crimea. Its name is of Greek origin. The town is located by the southern slopes of the main range of Crimean Mountains at the base of Mount Kosh-Kaya, 18 kilometers (11 mi) west from Yalta. Population: 2,604 .

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT rights in Kazakhstan</span>

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Kazakhstan face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT citizens. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Kazakhstan, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luhansk People's Republic</span> Disputed Russian republic in eastern Ukraine

The Luhansk People's Republic or Lugansk People's Republic is an internationally unrecognised republic of Russia in the occupied parts of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast, with its capital in Luhansk. The LPR was proclaimed by Russian-backed paramilitaries in 2014, and it initially operated as a breakaway state until it was annexed by Russia in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Igor Plotnitsky</span> Ukrainian separatist leader; 2014–2017 head of the Luhansk Peoples Republic

Igor Venediktovich Plotnitsky is a former Ukrainian separatist leader who served as the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in eastern Ukraine, from 14 August 2014 to 24 November 2017. He was born 26 June 1964 either in Luhansk or in the town of Kelmentsi, Chernivtsi Oblast. Plotnitsky himself did not issue a public statement on 24 November 2017, but on that day a Luhansk People's Republic website claimed he had resigned as their president. On 25 November the 38-member People's Council of the self-proclaimed state unanimously approved Plotnitsky's resignation.

Russian intelligentsia expressed various reactions to the Russian annexation of Crimea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian irredentism</span> Modern Russian claims to Imperial/Soviet-era territory

Russian irredentism, sometimes expressed by the term Greater Russia, refers to territorial claims made on behalf of the Russian Federation to parts of the former Russian Empire and the former Soviet Union. It seeks to politically incorporate Russians who are living in territories that fall outside of Russia's modern borders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonid Pasechnik</span> Head of the Luhansk Peoples Republic

Leonid Ivanovich Pasechnik is a Ukrainian-born politician who has served as Head of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) since 2017. He holds the position in acting capacity ever since the illegal and unrecognized Russian annexation of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2022. Pasechnik had previously held office as the LPR's Minister of State Security from 2014 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Bednov</span> Assassinated rebel commander of the LPR

Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Bednov was a former Soviet and Ukrainian militsiya officer and rebel commander of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic in Ukraine. He was the leader of the pro-Russian Batman Rapid Response Group. He was assassinated in Luhansk, with a debate among his supporters on who was responsible although on the day of his killing LPR "prosecutor's office" issued an official statement confirming "liquidation" of Bednov as "a head of a criminal organization".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22nd Army Corps (Russian Federation)</span> Russian Coastal Troops formation

The 22nd Army Corps is a corps of the coastal defence troops of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy. Formed in 2017 after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, the corps is headquartered in Simferopol and controls units based in Crimea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruslan Balbek</span> Russian politician

Ruslan Ismailovich Balbek is a Russian and former Ukrainian politician and former member of the State Duma from the United Russia party. A supporter of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, he has been highly critical of the Mejlis.

The Interbrigades is a volunteer movement organized by the unregistered Russian National Bolshevik political party "The Other Russia" to participate in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic.

The Tashkent Ten were ten Crimean Tatar civil rights activists tried in Tashkent by the Uzbek Supreme Court from 1 July to 5 August 1969. The trial was sometimes called the Tashkent Process.

2022 in Russia is the 31st year of the Russian Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luhansk People's Republic–Russia relations</span> Bilateral relations

Luhansk People's Republic–Russia relations were bilateral relations between Russia and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). The LPR is widely internationally unrecognized, with most of the international community regarding the LPR as a Russian military occupation of a portion of Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast. The LPR was annexed by Russia on 30 September 2022; the LPR authorities willingly acceded to Russia, and the annexation is widely internationally unrecognized. From April 2014 to September 2022, the LPR portrayed itself as an independent state, and it was widely regarded as a puppet state of Russia by the international community.

The 2022 evacuation of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic refers to mass evacuation of the residents of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) to the Russian Federation starting in February 2022.

In late September 2022, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian-installed officials in Ukraine staged so-called referendums on the annexation of occupied territories of Ukraine by Russia. They were widely described as sham referendums by commentators and denounced by various countries. The validity of the results of the referendums has been accepted by North Korea, and no other sovereign state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russian occupation of Crimea</span> Military occupation by Russia

The Russian occupation of Crimea is an ongoing military occupation within Ukraine by the Russian Federation, which began on 20 February 2014 when the military-political, administrative, economic and social order of Russia was imposed on the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol. The occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol was the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Russian martial law</span> Martial law introduced in federal subjects of Russia in 2022

Martial law in Russia was introduced on 20 October 2022 during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and a month after the announcement of mobilization. President Vladimir Putin issued two decrees: "On the introduction of martial law in the territories of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson Oblasts" and "On measures taken in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in connection with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated October 19, 2022 No. 756".

Igor Aleksandrovich Kornet born 29 April 1973, in Voroshilovgrad, now Luhansk, is a Ukrainian militiaman, public official and separatist, since 2014 Minister of Interior of the Luhansk People's Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donuzlav (air base)</span> Airport in Crimea

Donuzlav is an air base near Lake Donuzlav in Crimea, Ukraine. The air base was decommissioned in 1995, but has been claimed to have been revived by the Russian military since the Russo-Ukrainian war.

References

  1. ↑ Agnieszka Graff, Elżbieta Korolczuk (2022-09-11). "Kultureller Krieg und tatsächlicher Krieg. Russlands Feldzug gegen "Gender" und den "dekadenten Westen"". Geschichte der Gegenwart. Archived from the original on 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  2. 1 2 3 Игорь Исаев (2023-05-15). "Каждый день может быть последним. Украинские ЛГБТК-активисты добились закона о "регистрируемых партнерствах" — его могут принять уже в этом году. "Медуза" рассказывает, как им это удалось". Meduza. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  3. 1 2 Анастасия Тидо (2023-03-03). "БОЛЬНАЯ ТЕМА ⟩ Геи на войне. Как украинское общество преодолевает гомофобию". Postimes. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-11.
  4. ↑ Laura D. Verwest (2023-06-30). "How the Russian Invasion Has Created Two Realities for the LGBTQ Community in Ukraine". Crisis24. Archived from the original on 2023-08-11. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  5. 1 2 "How LGBT People Are Treated in Russia-Occupied Territories". Hromadske. 2019-06-28. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  6. ↑ Константин Скоркин (2015-05-26). "Назад в СССР. Как живут представители ЛГБТ в сепаратистском Донбассе". Реальна газета. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  7. ↑ Юлия Куценко (2019-02-16). "Заложники "ДНР"/"ЛНР": кого преследуют сепаратисты Донбасса". DW. Archived from the original on 2022-05-24. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  8. ↑ "Полиция ЛНР: За гетеросексуализм предусмотрена уголовная ответственность" (in Russian). 2015-08-31. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  9. ↑ "ЛНР: За "гетеросексуализм" предусмотрена уголовная ответственность" (in Ukrainian). 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  10. ↑ "Видеоблогер узнал, как в ЛНР наказывают за гетеросексуальность" (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  11. ↑ Павел Казарин (2017-10-30). "Полуостров нетерпимости: что происходит с ЛГБТ-сообществом в Крыму". Крым.Реалии. Archived from the original on 2022-11-27. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  12. ↑ Катерина Некречая (2019-04-11). ""В глухом подполье": жизнь ЛГБТ-сообщества в Крыму". Крым.Реалии. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  13. ↑ Simon Shuster (2014-10-15). "Crimea's Gay Community Moves Out as Russian Homophobia Sets In". Time. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  14. ↑ Андрей Андреев (2018-01-10). "Крымский гей-курорт Симеиз: жизнь после оккупации". ОстроВ. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  15. ↑ Назар Сытник, Катерина Некречая, Инна Аннитова (2018-09-20). "Под радугой: как живет крымский ЛГБТ-курорт". Крым.Реалии. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Инесса Сахно (2018-09-06). ""Перешли от слов к делу". О преследовании ЛГБТ в Крыму после аннексии". Крым.Реалии. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-15.
  17. ↑ Natalie Vikhrov (2018-10-02). "How Russia Drove Crimea's LGBT Community Underground". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2023-02-06. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 "How Putin Inadvertently Boosted LGBT Support in Ukraine". 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  19. 1 2 "LGBTI people affected by the war in Ukraine need protection". Council of Europe. 2022-05-17. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
  20. ↑ Марина Шевцова (2022-06-19). "У войны нет сексуальной ориентации? Российское вторжение, права ЛГБТК-людей, гражданский активизм и сопротивление в Украине". Feministerium. Archived from the original on 2023-08-20. Retrieved 2023-08-15.