Ukraine’s LGBTQ+ Community
Needs Your Support!

Despite many lacking areas in the protection of LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine, it remains the most vibrant and biggest community with a wider range of freedoms than in any other Eastern European country. As a matter of fact, many LGBTQ+ persons fled Russia and Belarus in the previous decade and moved to Ukraine.

Our community is facing many risks now – from housing, income support to medication and legal and psychological support. Given a blanket conscription law in Ukraine, non-disabled males aged 18-60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine. Many have been forced to flee Kyiv and Kharkiv, two biggest cities with largest LGBTQ+ communities in Ukraine, to seek safety in the west of the country. Moreover, men travelling in groups or couples are treated suspiciously, primarily viewed as a safety risk rather than mistreated because of their sexuality.

The situation is much more severe for transgender individuals who find themselves marginalised and unable to
access the support they require. There is a serious lack of housing due to unprecedented internal migration – if estimated 3m people left Ukraine for other countries since late February, there is an estimated surplus of 2.8m people who relocated to Western Ukraine in the same period.

Since 24 th February, we set up two LGTBQ+ shelters in Lviv offering accommodation and support to ca. 100 persons. We have to rent non-residential spaces and adapt them to offer acceptable living conditions, including the purchase and installation of boilers, heaters, washing machines, shower cabins, WiFi, beds and microwaves, etc.

Our donors have supported us in delivering these two vital projects that cost ca. USD 22,000. We estimate that our shelters will run out of capacity within the next week and we currently adapt additional spaces to offer shelter to new arrivals.

Some people in our care have lost their homes and will require continued housing and support even when the active military operations end.

Other key relief activities that we currently prioritize are:

Evacuation of LGBTQ+ persons from areas at risk of continued military attacks on civilian population, especially those who are disabled or require help to leave their home
Medical and psychological support for LGBTQI individuals, especially those whose legal sex remains male as they are legally subject to conscription and invasive medical inspections as army recruits. We partner with medical professionals who can legally certify gender dysphoria and issue a certification of exemption from military service
Medical supplies, including referrals and access to HIV positive persons
Legal support for persons with lost or expired IDs or victims of abuse or discrimination
Same-sex families with children or foster children
Subsistence support in the form of small financial support on a means-tested basis, especially to those who lost jobs
Logistical and legal support to leave Ukraine for another safe country in the EU in cooperation with other LGBTQ+ charities