12th LGBT Conference: Our report from Kyiv
The 12th Ukrainian LGBTI * Conference took place this year from September 11th to 13th under the motto “Path to Equality” in Kyiv. Around 150 participants from 13 partner organizations came to set goals for their work and to exchange information. The main topics of the conference were health, rights and leadership, on which short presentations were given every morning and afternoon. In addition, there were daily panel discussions between experts, as well as discussions to formulate common goals and impulses, which were addressed to the representatives of the four major parties in parliament. On the last day, workshops to formulate goals and an action plan rounded off the conference.
Munich Kyiv Queer was represented by Maximilian Leoson in order to find new cooperation partners and to present our very own, special form of activism. To this end, he gave a presentation on the topic of leadership.
Police protect the conference from attacks
The conference was held partly in Ukrainian, partly in Russian, and partly in English with simultaneous translation in the main conference room. Aside from Germany, the USA, Armenia, Latvia, Belarus, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan were also represented. In addition, there were of course Ukrainian participants from many cities in Ukraine such as Cherson, Chernowitz, Zaporizhia, and many more. Representatives from the UN and the EU Parliament were also present. The conference was held on the online platform menti.com evaluated after each session to find out whether the presentations were helpful for the work of the participants and interesting for them.
The conference was supported by the Dutch and German embassies in Kyiv. It all started with a reception and speeches by the ambassadors on the first evening. The participants could be accommodated in a hotel and were provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as coffee breaks. The location of the event remained secret until the end of the conference in order to avoid confrontations with the opposition.
In addition, the organizers have posted security guards at the entrances and after members of nationalist groups were spotted around the hotel, the police stationed cars at some strategic points. The participants were encouraged not to use public transport to go to the city center, but to use taxis. This prevented clashes during the conference. About the individual speeches:
Marina Herz – Small-Grant-Programm
Small grants can be an effective means of promoting smaller projects that make a big difference. So in Melitopol, where there is a lot of homophobia and people rarely come out. A community center was opened there with the help of the KyivPride . Thanks to Small Grants, there is also a project in Kharkiv that promotes trans * visibility; in Krywyj Rih they sponsored another LGBTI * project. This was sabotaged by right-wing activists, which the police ignored despite the complaint. Nevertheless, a coming-out workshop was able to take place.
Friedrich Chernishov – Trans * Generation
Trans * Generation has existed since 2018 and deals with the problems of trans * people in Ukraine. The trans * generation sees the big problems in the stigma and discrimination, the involuntary outing in all official matters. The involuntary outing & nbsp; and misgendering are reasons why trans * people are reluctant to enter into official employment. Another disadvantage is that people are not represented in politics.
Trans * Generation, therefore, wants to change the current situation, create a society without stigma and exclusion. Successes to date include the opening of the first Trans * Community Center (Insight) in Kyiv and the registration of medical partners. A database with friendly allies will soon be created, i.e. with doctors, lawyers, psychologists, etc. who are benevolent towards LGBTI * people. A community center is also planned in Kharkiv and Zaporizhia. All of this is intended to increase the visibility of trans * people in politics and the public.
Dmitry Kobrin – protection for MSM and trans * people
You can use the online platform ga.net.ua , Instagram and Facebook Apply young people for a place in safe accommodation. The responsible persons then invite them to an interview, in which it is evaluated whether it is possible and necessary to grant a place to live. Accommodation includes an agreement on living space, but also on training or work.
The project provides legal, psychological, and social advice. Dmitry emphasized that he tries to process applications as quickly as possible so that a solution can be found quickly for those affected. The shelter lacks staff for the care of the young people and the organization. A shelter operator in Kyrgyzstan suggested using the young people’s work to generate income. He was thinking of laundry services, for example.
Olena Semenova – situation of LB women
In her report “Social and Health Issues of Lesbian, Bisexual and Other Women who Have Sex with Women”, Olena presents the current situation of LB women. They deal with discrimination, domestic violence, and abuse, and suffer particularly intensely from certain diseases and substance abuse. The group of LB women and FSF is even less visible in the health system compared to MSM. Due to a great lack of knowledge and a lack of data, there are no specific prevention programs for LB women and FSF.
LB women, Olena said, need to become more visible to gather data, do research together, develop strategies, and take action. An important finding: There is not only superficial, active discrimination by doctors who simply do not investigate LGBTI *. The health service also passively discriminates against LB women because the institutes do not research LB women’s health and doctors are not informed about their specific health problems. Olena’s study has been published in English and will appear in Ukrainian shortly.
Boris Grachov – Paralawyers
As part of a peer-to-peer project, the system of paralawyers was once developed – analogous to English paramedics for paramedics, i.e. first aiders with previous legal knowledge without a law degree – who are supposed to prevent crises and advise in the event of human rights violations. They are also represented on the KharkivPride to provide help. The core principle of the project is to trust the information of the injured party.
This year the Paralawyers have already given 190 consultations, processed 45 legal documents, and initiated twelve criminal prosecutions. The project combats the victims’ distrust of the judiciary in general, the discriminatory legal situation, and long waiting times in the authorities. Paralawyer provides legal, medical, and psychological help, contacts international partners, and cooperates with the media to put pressure on politics. The organization also offers training for future paralawyers.
According to their statistics, 58 percent of the acts of violence were committed by the police and 33 percent took place between civilians.
Sergej – The UN Court of Justice
The UN Court of Justice makes recommendations to amend laws that should be incorporated into Ukrainian law. Anti-discrimination, criminal prosecution of homophobic attacks have not yet been adopted, and the legal situation regarding hate speech or public outing on social media platforms leaves a lot to be desired. Talks with international institutions and the Ukrainian government are intended to remedy this.
Discussion: How should it go on?
The community has to organize itself, the Ministry of Education has to be involved and foreign partners have to be brought in. Many legislative changes also need the support of the Ministry of Health, for example when it comes to trans * people.
The problems should be tackled from both sides: internally through education and information, including further training for the community, and externally, for example through cooperation to protect civil society, through recording and locating hotspots so that police protection can be guaranteed. An ethical question is the (financial) dependence on Western countries to change the legal situation for LGBTI * people.
The most important steps for the next six months are solidarity, the implementation of the right to tell the truth ( right to tell the truth ) and human rights training for members of parliament. Ukraine also needs to become more independent in order to pursue its own interests. Legislation needs to change on law enforcement and rights for LGBTI people, and human rights need to become part of the curriculum. The police forces and the courts must also learn how to deal with LGBTI * people in training and be made aware of the transfer of personal data, especially of trans * people.
The community itself has to take action by passing on its expertise or generating tools that it can pass on to the government, for example a platform for registering acts of violence. One problem is the unwillingness to come out and the fight for money in times of scarce resources: The individual LGBTI * organizations are in unwanted competition with one another, which in turn blocks the exchange between colleagues.
Opponents of gender equality policy like the Istanbul Convention are the churches and nationalist organizations that are against any social change.
Conversation with politics
As part of the conference, representatives of the political parties took time for a question-and-answer hour. Natalja Vasalova from the Liberals ( Power of People ) said that she was personally ready to represent the LGBTI * community, but that she could not speak for her party. Many left the party because they did not agree with their liberal values and they have to completely reorient themselves in terms of values. She openly says that LGBTI * issues cannot be addressed in local politics because society has yet to be prepared for them.
Tatiana Patym from the Greens is not currently represented in Parliament, but is part of the European Greens. It calls on members of the LGBTI * community to get actively involved in politics and stand up for their concerns. Kristina Marnistora from the Democrats thinks that same-sex partnerships in particular are an issue for her party and she wonders how she can promote LGBTI * rights. She suggests social media to share ideas and be influential. Kristina thinks that there should be no generalization at the local level, as many people in smaller cities also have surprisingly liberal views. When asked, all representatives stated that they were attending Pride events.
Munich Kyiv Queer – Active together for political change
On the second day of the conference there was an opportunity to get to know the work of Munich Kyiv Queer in a workshop. In a 20-minute presentation Maximilian Leoson presented the history of the organization, its goals and achievements, as well as the structure and members. Event participants from Cherson and Tschernowitz then approached Maximilian and showed interest in working together. Konstantin Sherstyuk from Quarteera from Berlin then briefly presented the possibility of a district partnership, such as between Schlozenburg in Berlin and Cherotku in Kyiv.
Eva Schmidt: UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine
Her profession is human rights. Eva Schmidt deals with the documentation of hate crimes, talks with victims, observes demonstrations, is responsible for freedom of expression in general and especially for LGBTI * people. She reports that there are successful Pride marches in the big cities (Kyiv and Odesa) and that there is good cooperation with the police. In smaller cities like Kharkiv and Kryvyi Rih, however, opponents interrupted the Pride marches and there was little or no support from the police. The UN regularly admonishes the Ukrainian authorities to prosecute violent crimes against minorities and to protect particularly vulnerable groups.
In addition, it is important not to dismiss hate crimes as hooliganism, because it is not about attacks on individuals, but an attack on society as a whole. The state and police reacted too seldom to hate speech by politicians. For example, the mayor of Cumi was able to calmly post that all Pride participants belonged to concentration camps.
Olena Carnatsba and Julia Zapnig – Platforma
The group Platforma presented their intersectional approach, in which various fringe groups (LGBTI *, trans *, sex workers, drug users) form a support network. The group wants to give its people access to services, advocacy, training and networking. The top priority is tolerance and the right to be yourself. In its year and a half, Platforma has already organized seven events and gained 192 members, 22 percent of whom are LGBTI * people. At their events, they effectively fight stereotypes in question-and-answer sessions. The activists are provided with knowledge and the appropriate skills in training.
Focus: stigma in dealing with HIV and AIDS
The 12th National LGBTI * Conference of Ukraine focused on the topic of stigma in dealing with HIV and AIDS. Here are some selected contributions.
Dmitro Kalinin – Friendly pill
The LGBTI * organization Gender Z in Zaporizhia presented its campaign friendly pill in Kyiv, with which it wants to break up stereotypes. They advertised a supposed vitamin tablet that could be ordered for free. The actual pill pack then mainly contained information on LGBTI * issues. 2500 tablets have been ordered since the start of their sales, although it is not clear which profile the buyers have. However, the general attention, stories and comments on social networks have had a generally positive effect. People talked about the subject.
Marlene Scandala – Queen’s Platform
Drag Queen Marlene Scandala explained the importance of drag for political activism. She emphasized that drag families depend on financial, material and creative support. With their striking appearance, drag queens can attract attention and use it for political purposes.
Julie Ward – EU Parliament
The British EU parliamentarian praised LGBTI * activism in Ukraine as “best practice”. She believes that the human rights struggle that is being waged in Ukraine can be an example for the whole world and the EU. In their constituency in north-west England (Manchester, Liverpool), minorities such as Muslims, the disabled and LGBTI * people are increasingly being attacked. She uses an intersectional approach to fight for a diverse society.
Summary: the action plan
In order to improve the situation for LGBT * people in Ukraine, the following recommendations emerged at the end of the conference, which were worked out by various groups:
- Guidelines for Pride-Events
- More PR for Pride events
- Inclusion of the youth and 45+ population groups
- Use of the concept of “living books” (such as “narrative café” in Germany)
- Expansion of city cooperation and city partnerships
- Education in schools, universities and youth centers
- Cooperation with international gay-friendly organizations based in Ukraine
- Training for the media on nonviolence and inclusion in language
- International exchange of best practice
- Knowledge exchange between Eastern Europe and Central Asia