“It’s going to be a very difficult winter”

Olena is a queer person living in Lviv in Western Ukraine. The war, she says, is changing everyday life even in a city considered relatively safe. This is why she dreads the coming winter.

Sunshine, a blue sky, a tree glowing yellow and orange in front of a block of flats. October is Olena’s favourite month, at least when it isn’t raining. But the idyll is deceptive.

We continue collecting stories from queer people in Ukraine who tell us how they live with the war. The world, it seems, has forgotten about Ukraine. We haven’t. This time, our correspondent Iryna Hanenkova asked Olena from Lviv for a glimpse into her daily life.

Even in cities considered relatively safe, the war affects every aspect of daily life. Russian attacks disrupt sleep, destroy critical infrastructure, and force people to prepare for a winter when even basic necessities may be hard to come by.

Preparing for a hard winter

While the world grows accustomed to news of the war, Ukrainians are forced to live with constant uncertainty. When it’s hard to plan even for tomorrow, the simpliest things that once seemed ordinary become especially precious.

Many queer people in Ukraine have lost their jobs, homes, families or friends because of the war. We support them, with your help.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via https://www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support queer people in Ukraine who are in need or on the run. Why? Because not all LGBTIQ* are organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. This help is direct, fast and free of charge if you choose the option “For friends and family” on PayPal. If you don’t have PayPal, you can alternatively send money to the private account of Conrad Breyer, speaker of Munich Kyiv Queer, IBAN: DE427015000021121454.

All requests from the community are meticulously checked in cooperation with our partner organisations in Ukraine. If they can help themselves, they take over. If the demands for help exceed their (financial and/or material) possibilities, we will step in.

HELP FOR LGBTIQ* ORGANISATIONS To support LGBTIQ* in Ukraine we have helped set up the Alliance Queer Emergency Aid Ukraine, in which around 40 German LGBTIQ* Human Rights organisations are involved. All these groups have access to very different Human Rights organisations in Ukraine and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people. Every donation helps and is used 100 percent to benefit queer people in Ukraine. Donate here

VULNERABLE GROUP And here you can find out why queer people in war need our support.

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