Themes by tag: LGBT
On June 21, Kyiv will hold the KyivPride March—a peaceful march for equal rights for all, regardless of who they love or who they are. This year’s KyivPride March marks a jubilee, being the tenth one. The main demand of KyivPride this year is the recognition of LGBTIQ+ families, an issue that has become critically urgent for many during the full-scale war.
Right now, a new Civil Code is being adopted in Ukraine—and instead of finally recognizing same-sex families, it introduces new forms of discrimination.
Therefore, the KyivPride March will put forward four demands to the authorities:
- Reject the draft of the new Civil Code, as it contains discriminatory provisions and contradicts Ukraine’s European integration commitments. Instead, ensure the implementation of transformation roadmaps involving LGBTIQ+ organizations as full partners in the reform process.
- Recognize civil partnerships for both military personnel and civilians as a step toward marriage equality, alignment of legislation with European standards, and the fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
- Introduce fair criminal liability for hate crimes, specifically homophobia and transphobia, by amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
- Implement legal gender recognition based on self-determination, without mandatory hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or psychiatric diagnosis.
This year, the march will feature several organized blocs, including a transgender bloc, a KharkivPride bloc, and a bloc of LGBTIQ+ military personnel, veterans, and their families.
Invited guests include diplomats, ambassadors, representatives of international missions, and lawmakers. The KyivPride March will be the culmination of Pride Month, which has already gathered thousands of people at KyivPride Park.
The march will move through the center of the capital. At the final stop, the community will enjoy a dance performance by the ballroom community.
Media accreditation is required to attend the event.
Background: KyivPride is a non-governmental organization working to promote equality and human rights in Ukraine, and to strengthen the impact of civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community on the country’s path toward European Union integration.
KyivPride Park, a charity and educational event that traditionally marks the beginning of the capital’s Pride celebrations ahead of the Equality March, will take place in Kyiv on June 14. The event will run throughout the day. Admission will be granted in exchange for a voluntary donation to UNITED24’s fundraising campaign for air defence. A community advocating for its own rights also contributes daily to the security of the entire country, making support a two-way effort.
This year, the organisers of KyivPride Park, the NGO KyivPride, have been joined by partners including the NGO Ukrainian LGBT+ Military and Veterans for Equal Rights, KharkivPride, PinchukArtCentre, the Sunny Bunny queer film festival, the Linoleum animation festival, the Memorial NGO, Underwood Brewery and others.
KyivPride Park will feature several spaces operating simultaneously, offering a range of activities for visitors. The programme will include DJ sets, among them Past Curfew with a mix of house, trance and techno, as well as an acoustic performance by Okolytsia.
Two panel discussions will also take place. The first, titled “How to Create Vibrant Queer Communications”, will bring together creators of LGBTIQ+ YouTube channels, Instagram pages and magazines to discuss how to speak about queerness on social media and how to deal with online hate. The second discussion, “Why Transgender Identity Is Not a Way to Avoid Military Service?”, will be moderated by Leon, a transgender man and blogger. Panellists will include Emilia, a transgender veteran, and endocrinologist Ilona Khanko, author of a book about gender transition in Ukraine.
The cinema area will screen animated films from the Linoleum festival and short films presented by Sunny Bunny, followed by discussions where audiences will be able to ask questions to directors.
KyivPride will create a memorial space together with the Memorial NGO, where visitors will be able to remember those who are no longer with them and tie ribbons bearing their names. Psychologists will also be available nearby for those who need immediate support.
The theme of those who serve will run throughout the entire day. LGBT military personnel are active partners of the event. Their presence will be reflected in various parts of the programme, from discussions about military service to a dedicated area where field porridge will be offered in exchange for donations and merchandise supporting veterans will be available.
Background: This year’s KyivPride will take place across two key dates. KyivPride Park, the charity and educational event, will be held on June 14. On June 21, the KyivPride March will take place in the centre of the capital in support of equal rights for all citizens regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
About the organisers: KyivPride is a non-governmental organisation working to advance equality and human rights in Ukraine and to strengthen the influence of civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community in the country’s path towards integration into the European Union.
The NGO Military LGBT+ is organizing a five-day intensive training program to help veterans acquire a new profession as tattoo artists. The course is being held as part of a grant-funded program. The NGO team, together with the Strum tattoo studio, will select nine participants for the training, which is scheduled to take place in June.
The course will cover not only tattooing techniques but also safety procedures, hygiene standards, equipment handling, sketch creation, linework and shading, and communication with clients. Participants will also practice on artificial skin. Following the completion of the course, a graduation charity event will be held, where newly trained artists will be able to tattoo guests in exchange for donations.
The training will be free of charge for veterans.
Media representatives can speak with the organizers and participants both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.
Mariia Volia was born and raised in Mariupol, a city in southern Ukraine that was destroyed and occupied by russian forces in the spring of 2022. She joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2015, deciding to defend the country after the first russian attacks on Mariupol. During the full-scale war, she served as a mortar squad leader and later as a platoon commander in a signal company.
Before the occupation of her hometown, she kept her sexual orientation private. However, after being wounded in Mariupol and later breaking out of the russian encirclement, Mariia came out to her comrades. After 11 years of service, she left the army due to health reasons and was assigned a third-degree disability status.
Mariia says she felt relief, as her resources to remain in the military had been exhausted. She is now gradually returning to civilian life and trying to find her place outside the army.
Mariia Volia can be contacted both online and in person by prior arrangement.
Saba Yamani was born in Saudi Arabia. Her father is Saudi, and her biological mother is Syrian. She first came to Ukraine at the age of three when her father married a Ukrainian woman, who became Saba’s real mother.
When Saba turned 16, her father wanted to take her back to Saudi Arabia to arrange a marriage for her. However, she defied him and refused to leave Ukraine.
In Kyiv, Saba was baptized in the Orthodox Church and came out as LGBTQ+. Currently, Saba does not have a Ukrainian passport; she only has an expired Saudi document. To resolve this issue, she applied to the State Migration Service of Ukraine at the start of the full-scale invasion. There, she was ordered to surrender the Ukrainian documents she had obtained and to leave the country within two weeks. Had she been deported to Saudi Arabia, Saba would have faced arrest and possible execution due to her tattoos, Christian faith, and LGBTQ+ identity. After appealing again to the SMS, Saba finally received a certificate confirming her application for protection.
Since the age of 15, Saba has helped her mother at a dental clinic. After high school, she attended medical university and started working part-time by the end of her first year. She currently works at a private dental clinic in Kyiv and plans to take the Ukrainian citizenship exam this May.
Saba Yamani is available for interviews online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.
A meeting and discussion on intimacy, sexuality, and relationships after military experience will take place on January 17 at the veterans hub. The event will include a lecture by sexologist Olena Lysenko, followed by an open dialogue where veterans can share personal stories and ask questions in a supportive environment.
The discussion will cover the impact of combat experience on intimacy and sexual health, rebuilding emotional openness with partners, and post-traumatic adaptation.
Journalists are required to register in advance to attend.
Oleksii Polukhin is a resident of Kherson and an open representative of the LGBTQ+ community. In the first days of the russian occupation, the 21-year-old Oleksii joined the resistance movement in Kherson and began establishing contact with the Security Service of Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and intelligence units.
By May 2022, Oleksii was gathering information in the city that was crucial for Ukrainian special services. On May 9, during one of his missions, he encountered a new enemy checkpoint. He is certain someone had informed the russians about his activities, as they were already waiting for him at the checkpoint. The occupiers took his phone and passport and forced him to undress. They then blindfolded him, put him in a car, and drove him around the city for several hours before taking him to a pre-trial detention center (SIZO), where interrogations continued.
When the occupiers learned that Oleksii was queer, they forced him to wear a dress. He was denied showers, prohibited from going outside, and was provided with no medical or legal assistance. While his captors did not use physical violence, they subjected him to constant psychological pressure. Oleksii was released after two months of this psychological torture. Despite this, he remained in Kherson for a long time afterward and only left his hometown after its liberation. Oleksii is currently receiving psychological support and continues to volunteer in support of the Ukrainian military.
Oleksii Polukhin is available for interviews, both online and in person in Lviv, by prior arrangement.
Background: Kherson was occupied by russian forces at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city regularly.
On September 23, Kyiv will host a panel discussion titled “Remembering the Dead: How to Honor Their Memory in Public Spaces Without Reducing Them to an Undifferentiated Mass.”
The event, organized by the NGO Ukrainian LGBTQI+ Military and Veterans for Equal Rights, will explore how to commemorate fallen defenders in public spaces in ways that preserve their names and individuality rather than reducing them to abstract symbols. Special attention will be given to approaches for visibly and respectfully honoring both open and closeted LGBTQI+ service members in the urban environment, including the concept of a memorial alley.
Speakers:
– Oleksandr Demenko, Head of Ukrainian LGBTQI+ Military and Veterans for Equal Rights;
– Yakiv Lavrynets, Co-Chair of Kharkiv Pride Sphere and Co-Organizer of KharkivPride;
– Oksana Borkun, Head of the Have to Live Charitable Foundation and Founder of the Community of Wives of Fallen Defenders;
– Veronika Holubnych, a Representative of the Vshanui NGO;
– Dmytro Kostiuminskyi, a Military Officer, Production Designer, Actor, Theater Director, and Creator of the Tree of Memory Monument (online).
Registration is required for attendance.
Oleksandr Demenko, a native of Zaporizhzhia, first served his mandatory term in the military before signing a contract with the 15th Operational Brigade of the National Guard, named after Hero of Ukraine Lieutenant Bohdan Zavada. In the months leading up to russia’s full-scale invasion, he was assigned to guard facilities near Mariupol, and on February 24, 2022, his unit was redeployed to defend the city.
By the end of March 2022, he had sustained a shrapnel wound, and on May 12 of that year, he spoke with his mother for the last time before being taken prisoner. Demenko remained in captivity for more than 20 months. He finally returned home on January 31, 2024.
More recently, Demenko was elected head of the Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights NGO. On August 23, 2025, his partner Artur proposed, and the two became engaged. The couple plans to wait until lawmakers adopt a bill on registered partnerships before marrying.
Demenko is available for meetings both online and in person in Kyiv by appointment.
Leon, 26, has spent the past two years on hormone therapy, continuing a transition that he says has brought him closer to the person he has always known himself to be. From childhood, Leon felt like a boy, but as a teenager, he struggled with depression and lacked the language to explain his experience. It wasn’t until his early twenties that he first learned what it means to be transgender.
His journey began with visits to a sexologist and later a psychiatrist, where he was diagnosed with transsexualism under the ICD-10-CM code F64.0. After that, he consulted an endocrinologist and started hormone therapy. The changes soon became clear, from the deepening of his voice to the broadening of his shoulders.
Leon chose to come out after a conversation with his father. His relationship with his mother, however, ended, and they no longer stay in touch. He later underwent a mastectomy, legally changed his surname and gender marker, and registered with a Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center as a potential conscript for Ukraine’s military. During his medical evaluation, he was deemed unfit for service under Article 18a, which cited schizophrenia.
Now, Leon says he finally feels free. He shares his experience through a personal blog, sharing his transition journey.
For those interested, Leon is open to conversations both online and in person in Odesa, by prior arrangement.
