Into the war Ukraine has improved the opinion of the country’s LGBT+ community, said a manager of a shelter run by KyivPride.
Jul Sirous and Olha Onipko help provide temporary housing for LGBT+ refugees from the war in Ukraine.
Shelter coordinator and education manager Olha said people wrote to KyivPride asking for shelter for a few hours or days while they looked for safer pastures after Russia‘s invasion.
She said they should provide “a safe place” for their community.
In general, people who stay there are offered shelter, psychological help and training in order to qualify for a new job.
The fundraising for the shelter was the brainchild of Briton Steve Taylor, who lives in Copenhagen and is a board member at EuroPride.
According to the European Pride Organizers Association, the current total amount raised so far for both Kyiv and Kharkiv Pride is almost £90,000.
Shelter security manager Jul said, “I hope that when we have this first post-victory Pride, we can invite all these organization(s) to our Pride.”
Jul said the network shows that the LGBT+ community has the “power” to help each other.
“It’s the main reason why, and it’s not just about the LGBT community… I mean, even Ukrainian society has changed and started helping each other and this is the main reason why Russia won’t be able to win because we don’t to be divorced. We are as one nation,” Jul said.
“You can see that attitudes about LGBT people also changed dramatically during the war and it’s a good change because a lot of people understand that things like sexual orientation or gender identity… it’s not very important when you’re saved by these people or when you’re being held by these people and I love it.
“Unfortunately, we pay a high price for this understanding, but it is a good change in our society.”
Jul said the stories of Russian soldiers targeting LGBT+ people for sexual assault and murder are true.
They talked about an activist they knew from Kherson who had been captured and held by Russian soldiers for two months.
“It’s not easy to say he was raped, but it’s true,” Jul said. “Unfortunately, many people have been raped by them.”
Jul claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin used the LGBT+ community as “a reason to attack Ukraine.”
Both managers said their names are on a Russian death list.
Olha said the death list is an attempt to “destroy” activists.
“If there are no activists, it’s easier to change other people’s opinions,” she added.
She said she was “proud” to be on the list.
When asked about the one-year anniversary of the war, both managers emphasized that they are not afraid, even though they “hurt” when they think of people and friends who have been lost.
Olha told the story of a man who came to stay at the shelter after traveling from his home in Kharkiv: ‘He walked out and at that time when he was walking his whole family was at home in a building and on that’s when Russian missiles destroyed his building and his whole family was killed – parents, sisters, brothers.’
He stayed in the shelter for about a month and now works in western Ukraine and continues to write to Olha, who said his story touches her deeply.
Asked what message they want to convey, the pair said it is important for them to continue their work in Kiev and hope to live in a democratic Ukraine that will become part of the EU, UN and NATO.
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