Why do gays have to flee Ukraine

Фото: Depositphotos

In Ukraine, deputies are discussing a civil partnership law that will allow gay couples to enter into a union, officially regulate issues of joint property and build a family. Other anti-discrimination laws were adopted 3 years ago. But gays still face manifestations of intolerance in Ukraine, writes “Currently,«.

A young couple from Ukraine fled to France after death threats and several attacks. Igor and Sergey have been living in Paris for a month now.

“The hair color that is now on my head is a social experiment - how they will react in France to such a bright color. If I had chosen this hair color while living in Odessa or Kiev, I would have reached the first intersection, where I would have heard curses behind me, and within two blocks I would have been beaten so badly that for the next month I would have spent the next month in the hospital again with broken nose,” says Igor.

Igor Zakharchenko is an openly gay activist. He never hid his orientation, went out with single pickets for LGBT rights, participated in prides. He was constantly threatened on social networks and repeatedly attacked on the streets. The last time Igor and Sergey were beaten a few days before the planned holidays in France. And they just decided not to return.

“The local district police officer called us back, asking: “Well, how are you doing?” I decided to explain everything at once: first the inscription appeared, we were threatened with death, now someone attacked us. Then we went to the police station: in the car, no one at the police station even handed us a napkin. Everything was covered in blood: hands, face. We were given two forms to write a statement, after which the policeman closed the window and started laughing with his friends, you could hear it even through the plastic windows,” recalls Sergei.

This year, in the ranking of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex People, Ukraine ranked 36 in terms of LGBT freedom, beating Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. In the first place - Malta, then - Norway and the UK. Russia is on the 48 location.

“Hate crimes against LGBT people are committed almost every day in Ukraine, but there is not a single case that has been brought to court. There are no official statistics on such crimes in Ukraine. Any authorities that conduct an investigation don’t give a damn about this,” explains Igor.

The new government of Ukraine passed one of the first laws on combating discrimination back in May, 2014. But police, according to activists, prefer not to qualify attacks on gay people as hate crimes.

In the past, in Ukraine, only the 41 episode was officially recorded, which the security forces qualified as a crime against LGBT people, for this year there is no data yet.

Often the victims themselves are afraid to write statements, not wanting to advertise their lives for fear of public condemnation, explains Zakharchenko.

“I have a large number of friends, including LGBT representatives, who were at the Maidan. I have a good friend, friend Kolya, an open LGBT activist, who is currently at the front. Yes, he is somehow trying to change attitudes towards LGBT people by personal example, now he is directly in the conflict zone. But I know other examples when other open LGBT activists went to the Maidan, and they were told: let you help, but in such a way that no one knows that you belong to the LGBT community. Help, but quietly, so that they don’t know about you,” he says.

Igor Zakharchenko became known in Ukraine after last year’s pride. He is the only one who was beaten by people who attacked the procession.

“At the retreat from the 2016 Pride on the street near the VDNKh metro station, five people kicked me for several minutes, passers-by passed by, no one cared. The police responded as usual - nothing. Just as the cases were not investigated, they are not being investigated,” the activist recalls.

Igor’s partner, Sergey, never advertised his orientation. LGBT faced rejection at work. He was fired for being gay.

“One day the boss came up to me and said: I’m sorry, but I can’t keep you here anymore. You’re a good technologist, but people go on strike, they don’t like that a “rooster” is working with them,” he says.

France is one of the countries granting asylum to those who face discrimination in their homeland. The procedure for obtaining refugee status is far from simple and can take several months. Often you have to live in camps, waiting for a positive decision. But Igor and Sergey are not going to return to Ukraine.

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