A Ukrainian trans student wants to help fight for his country, but is not allowed because he is officially registered as a woman.
Jahn, 20, was blocked from the men’s armed forces because his birth certificate said he was a woman.
Even if Jahn were to accept that he was wrong and serve as a woman, the military would only allow women to get involved if they had previous military experience.
Trans people in Ukraine can change their sexes on official documents, but they must have taken hormones for a certain period of time.
They must also present their case to the authorities and provide a medical certificate with a doctor verifying their trans identity. However, some doctors are not willing to do that.
Activist Inna Iriskina, who works with the LGBTQ + charity Insight, said Jahn is just one example of what she believes is a problem that many trans men experience.
In addition to the logistical problems of getting into the military, trans people are also wary of joining the military and are then discriminated against by their colleagues and leaders.
Meanwhile, some trans women in the community are struggling with the opposite – they are expected to fight as men.
Oleksandra (39) is one of these people. She has been trying to flee her home in Mykolaiv since March.
But Ukrainian men are legally expected to stay and fight off Russian soldiers, and Oleksandra has been officially registered as a man.
“I’m afraid of being discriminated against if I am called to the front,” she said.
Oleksandra eventually made her way to Odessa, thanks to an organization that provided her with accommodation, where it is safer than Mykolaiv.
Inna said trans people face extra problems, in addition to trying to survive the war like everyone else.
Hormones, for example, have been difficult to obtain since Kremlin troops invaded in February, causing prices to ‘rise sharply’.
Inna sends people into the army hormones whenever she can, but she’s particularly worried about trans people getting stuck in Russian – occupied territories.
“I have no news of two people being there,” she said.
LGBTQ + rights have drastically improved since Ukraine’s pro-Russian fall government in 2014.
But Ukraine was still only 39 out of 49 European countries in upholding LGBTQ rights by 2020.
Russia has a significantly bad reputation for how it treats the LGBTQ + community, as any pro-LGBTQ + speech is completely banned.
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