“My business failed”

Munich Kyiv Queer continues collecting stories from LGBTIQ* in Ukraine asking them how they live under war circumstances. We want to raise awareness for the situation of this vulnerable social group and mobilize support like donations. This is the story of Natalya.

Natalya ran a small business in Dnipro. It failed because of the war, she says. The city is often shelled, sometimes there is no electricity, no water. How to expect customers under these circumstances?! VIDEO

Deprived from any income, she started to look for help and turned towards “You are not alone”. The NGO from Zhytomyr provided her with vouchers for hygienic articles, food and medicaments for which she is very grateful.

“You are not alone” is supported by the German Queere Nothilfe Ukraine (Queer Emergency Aid Ukraine) and Munich Kyiv Queer is one of the 40 LGBTIQ*-organisations in Germany that have united forces to build this alliance one year ago. As you can see: Your donations really help: Natalya is literally surviving thanks to your support!

Thanks to the NGO “You are not alone”, especially Oleksandra Semenova, for carrying out this video project with us. Thanks to Matt and Stas for working on the subtitles. And thanks to Nikita for translating the German and English texts into Ukrainian.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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 like “You are not alone” and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people like Natalya. Every donation helps and is used 100 percent to benefit queer people in Ukraine. Donate here

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

We as Munich Kyiv Queer continue collecting stories from LGBTIQ* in Ukraine asking them how they live under war circumstances. We want to raise awareness for the situation of this vulnerable social group and mobilize support like donations. This is the story of Nelly.

Nelly and her girlfriend stayed in Kherson the whole time. The city was occupied by the Russians early in the beginning of the war, then liberated by Ukrainian forces. But the shelling continues. Nelly says it is going on every day. VIDEO

People like her have no job, no income, fear about their lives. This is why her family is so grateful to NGOs like “You are not alone” in Zhytomyr who sends them money and moral support.

“You are not alone” is supported by the German Alliance Queere Nothilfe Ukraine (Queer Emergency Aid Ukraine) of which Munich Kyiv Queer is a part. It is your money that helps here! Your contribution has an effect: Nelly and her girlfriend are able to survive in the war thanks to your support!

Thanks to the NGO “You are not alone”, especially Oleksandra Semenova, for carrying out this video project with us. Thanks to Matt and Stas for working on the subtitles. And thanks to Nikita for the translation to Ukrainian.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

Lera, a young trans* person from Ukraine, had to experience how Russia attacked her hometown Oleshki near Kherson. That was a year ago. Since then she divides her life into “before the war” and “after the war”. Today she lives in Berlin. This is Lera’s story.

Before the war, I had a simple life. I worked, sometimes met with friends in Kyiv and enjoyed the small pleasures of everyday life. I come from the town of Oleshki on the left bank of the Kherson region which is occupied by Russia to this day.

On the night of February 24, all that changed iat once. A phone call from acquaintances who live near the border with Crimea jolted me out of sleep: “It’s war!” they said. It seemed surreal, and yet I immediately began to pack an emergency bag.

Until the summer I hid at home

The fighting started only a few kilometers from my house. Around 12 noon I heard them on the Antonivka Bridge. The whole house was shaking: I didn’t know which gods to pray to so that all this would stop. I felt as if the world was descending into chaos. In a way, it did.

In the days of the apocalypse, I tried my best to help others. I baked bread, distributed it, cooked food and shared it. My stove heating enabled me to do at least that. But I hardly dared to leave the house.

When the situation had calmed down somewhat in the summer, I ventured outside. But the danger was not over: I encountered orcs (Russian soldiers; editor’s note) four times. Two of them harassed me and almost forced me into a car. Once they beat me up because someone in my town said I was trans*. They knocked out one of my teeth with a rifle butt.

They took away our food

After that, I only went out on my bike. Or I didn’t go out of the house at all. One day they came with an automatic rifle and demanded that I give them water. One of them shouted to a comrade that I was a girl and put the rifle away. I fainted from fright. My mother came out and gave them everything they asked for. They took the last of the food and all the water.

Then came the day when the freaks blew up the dam. I hoped the water would not reach us, but it was there the very next day. I feared for our house, the whole area. The water rose quickly, overnight it was up to my chest, to about 1.40 meters.

The soldiers showed little interest in rescuing those who did not have Russian passports. The local population did more to help the victims than the Russian soldiers.

Insha helped me escape

Then I turned to the LGBTIQ* organization “Insha” and asked for help: they gave me money for the escape. We fled via Crimea, were detained at the checkpoint in Armyansk for seven hours in the heat without water or food. They questioned us and forced us to sign papers that we supported Russia’s “special operation”, that is, the war, but it was not true. We had no other choice, only with difficulty we got across the border.

I went to Simferopol, moved into a dormitory with my mother. It was very scary to even talk on the phone. They could have listened to everything.

We moved on to Voronezh, we were there for a few days. Just on the day when we had to move on, Prigozhin marched on Moscow. Thank God, at some point we reached the Latvian border.

There we were detained again for ten hours, and even forced to undress. The Russians wanted to see my tattoos. I had to stick out my belly so they wouldn’t notice my breasts right away. I was already afraid that the bus would leave without me.

But then they stamped my passport and I crossed the border with tears in my eyes. The first night my mother and I spent in Daugavpils. The journey was very hard. Then we went to Estonia and on to Berlin.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

We as Munich Kyiv Queer continue collecting stories from LGBTIQ* in Ukraine asking them how they live under war circumstances. We want to raise awareness for the situation of this vulnerable social group and mobilize support like donations. This is the story of Daria.

The war forced Daria to move from Zaporizhzhia, which is attacked nearly daily, to Kharkiv. But she had no job, no income and therefore had to look out for help. VIDEO

She found it thanks to the organization “You are not alone”, based in Zhytomyr. Due to the funds of the German Queere Nothilfe Ukraine (Queer Emergency Aid), partly your donations, they were able to support Daria. She needs money to buy food, hygienic products and to pay the rent.

Daria is very grateful. “They never once refused me”, she says. Thanks for your help, dear friends!

We are very grateful to the NGO “You are not alone”, especially Oleksandra Semenova, for carrying out this video project with us. Thanks to Matt and Stas for working on the subtitles. And thanks to Nikita for the Ukrainian translation.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

Can you imagine what it’s like for the LGBTIQ* community in Ukraine, living in the midst of war? The LGBT Human Rights NASH SVIT Center reveals in their recent report a community tirelessly assisting the armed forces in their stand against Russian aggression, all while battling the harsh realities of war.

In times of turmoil, Ukrainian LGBTIQ* organizations have stepped up, offering a beacon of hope. They’ve poured their energy into supporting the community, providing emergency aid and financial assistance to victims of conflict, and creating safe havens for refugees fleeing occupied territories. Many of these organizations, particularly in the east and south of Ukraine, have had to evacuate their teams to safer regions, becoming displaced individuals themselves in the process.

This year, the advocacy for registered civil partnership has taken center stage in the quest for LGBTIQ* rights, driven passionately by the NGO “Ukrainian LGBT+ military for equal rights” and other LGBTQ military allies. This crusade has met resistance, with homophobic religious activists and military personnel attempting to undermine the contributions of LGBTQ soldiers, or even deny their existence entirely. The societal climate in Ukraine has led many LGBTIQ* individuals to conceal their identities, especially within the military service, a heartbreaking reality that needs to change.

Glimpses of hope and resilience

While the Ukrainian military’s attitude towards the LGBTIQ* people could be described as tolerable, the absence of an official policy from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs often leaves matters up to the specific situation. There have been unfortunate instances of intolerance and violence, especially from right-wing radical organizations’ military units. Thankfully, their impact is limited due to their volunteer makeup and a lack of openly LGBTIQ* members.

However, there are glimpses of hope and resilience. LGBTIQ* activists in the Armed Forces report largely neutral attitudes from their colleagues and superiors, with no discrimination when it comes to promotions or commendations. And let’s not forget the inspiring story of Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, the only openly transgender woman in the Armed Forces and an American volunteer, now the host of the Territorial Defense Forces’ official English-language news!

One critical issue lies with transgender individuals, who are grappling with the availability and cost of necessary hormonal drugs amidst a backdrop of falling incomes. Despite these hurdles, LGBTIQ* and charitable organizations continue their tireless efforts to address this issue.

In the face of adversity, the Ukrainian LGBTIQ* community remains strong and united, a testament to their resilience and the power of human spirit.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

We as Munich Kyiv Queer continue collecting stories from LGBTIQ* in Ukraine asking them how they live under war circumstances. We want to raise awareness for the situation of this vulnerable social group and mobilize support like donations. This is the story of Natalya.

Natalya tells us about her situation in Cherson. Her wife and kid had left the country already in the beginning of the war. She is on her own. She stayed in the occupied region all the time, trying to hold on. But then, the Kakhovka dam broke. CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO WATCH HER VIDEO

Natalya stays calm when she tells about the days she experienced after. It must have been hell. You can feel her voice breaking. Now they have no drinking water, not always energy, no work, no means to live. She says many people came back to Kherson when it was liberated with hope, but hope she has none any more.

She only wants to survive. We try to support Natalya. We think we owe her as so many queer people in Ukraine.

Thanks to the NGO “You are not alone”, especially Oleksandra Semenova, for helping us with this video project. And thanks to Matt and Stas for working on the subtitles!!! It means a lot.

This is how you can donate

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

We enter the 2nd year of war and luckily activists from Ukraine will join MunichPride once again. They are all fighting: for their country, their lives, for freedom, visibility and acceptance of LGBTIQ*, of course.

We want to talk and learn from each other, from our struggles and our history. How are queer people in Ukraine right now? What’s our business in Munich?

Meet people from Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Munich. Bring your food to the picnic talk of Munich Kyiv Queer and LesbenSalon. We have invited (in alphabetical order):

• Lenny Emson, KyivPride
• Zhenia Kvasnevska, OdesaPride, Queer Home Odesa
• Anna Sharyhina, Sphere, Kharkiv

When: Friday, 23rd of June 2023, 6 p.m.
Where: LeZ, Müllerstraße 26
Organized by: Munich Kyiv Queer, LesbenSalon, LeZ

This is how you can help

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

Emin is originally from Azerbaijan. Years ago he came to Ukraine for work. After a difficult coming out, he found the love of his life here, Vlad. And he has met people who accept him for who he is. Emin would never flee the country – although he could. A portrait by Evgen Lesnoy.

Anyone who believes that only Ukrainians live in Ukraine is mistaken. Contrary to what the Russian propaganda would have us believe, there is no forced Ukrainisation going on in this country. Even in the second year of the full scale war, many people in the Eastern and Southern parts of the nation still speak Russian as a matter of fact.

There are many people living in Ukraine who came here for work. They were born in countries of the former Soviet Union. And although many of them are not Ukrainian citizens, Ukraine is their homeland. Despite the war, many of them have stayed, like Emin.

All his relatives know him as Emin. He is 42 years old and a citizen of Azerbaijan. However, Emin has been living in Ukraine for over 15 years now, in Kyiv, to be precise. He stays in the outskirts of the capital.

Emin came out as a gay man in Ukraine. Before that, in his old home country, also in Moscow, where he lived a long time ago, he tried again and again to suppress his homosexuality. But you can’t live against your nature.

Vald and Emin got to know each other in a hair salon

In Ukraine, Emin found the love of his life. He met Vladik when he came to cut his hair in Emin’s salon. Emin is a hairdresser, although he used to be a cook once.

His experience in the kitchen came in handy during the first months of the war. But more on that in a moment.

They were all waiting for the war. No one wanted to believe that it was really coming, but they were all waiting for it. Emin and Vlad, like many others, had packed their bags; they were standing in the hallway.

But neither Vlad nor Emin made use of them. From the very first day, when the Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv, only 15 kilometres away, the gay couple decided: This is our home. This is where we want to be.

Emin suddenly started baking pita bread, as he had learned from his mother

In those days, the house where they live organised its own territorial defence. They didn’t have weapons, of course, but it was important to keep out looters and saboteurs. Vlad communicated constantly with various foreign media, as he is fluent in Arabic, Hebrew and English, reporting what was going on in Kyiv: That the Ukrainian capital was standing solid and did not let in the enemy.

Emin took a shovel and fortified the complex with his neighbours. And when the shops around closed, he started baking bread. Volunteers brought flour and they started working the dough and made pita bread, like Emin’s mother used to in Azerbaijan.

Back in February 2022, when the Russian troops were outside Kyiv’s walls, they often asked Emin: Why don’t you leave? You’re not a Ukrainian citizen and you’re not liable for military service. Why do you stay here?

Emin had only one answer for this: “Vladik lives here, he is my love, my husband. How can I leave him? How can I leave you? After all, you have taken us all in. I have not heard a single homophobic word about us. I am not a Ukrainian citizen, but I am Ukrainian. A Ukrainian from Azerbaijan. I will stay with you until the end.”

In Ukraine, Emin has found a new family that he does not want to leave

More than a year has passed now and the war has moved away from Kyiv. In the summer, Emin took time to go home and visited his mother in Azerbaijan. And of course, he came back. Because, here in Ukraine, Emin has everything he needs to live: a home and people who accept him as he is.

This is how you can help

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

In the spirit of the long-standing city partnership between Munich and Kyiv, drag artists from Ukraine and Germany have once again joined forces with Munich Kyiv Queer. They perform and raise money for the important work Munich Kyiv Queer conducts for queer war victims. Welcome to an entertaining cabaret evening on 10 June.

Charming guests, great show: Munich based Drag Queen VICKY VOYAGE (b.d.) leads the way through the international cabaret world. Because Vicky is always worth a trip. She guides her audience through the evening with charisma and clever wit. You can expect a colourful potpourri of Ukrainian and German drag art.

Before things get started on stage, we present our guests here in fast forward:

She is the enfant terrible of the German burlesque scene. When RUBY TUESDAY gets on stage, it’s getting hot. Ruby has been performing throughout Europe as a neo-burlesque performer for over ten years. This art form not only allows the performers to play with femininity and sensuality in a self-determined, creative and humorous way, but also to question social norms and blur boundaries.

Her versatility allows Ruby to slip into many roles: she plays the fluffy bunny just as convincingly as “Ruben Tuesday” bursting with masculinity – Ruby was Munich’s first drag king.

“All people in this world deserve to be free to choose who they love and be who they are.”

Samantha Jackson

Ukrainian’s Drag Ambassador SAMANTHA JACKSON from Odesa has a big stage presence, a big heart and an even bigger voice. Everything about her is big. Especially the longing for her old homeland, which she had to leave because of the war. With her songs, she reminds us of Ukraine.

Her cause: A life in freedom! Samantha says: “All people in this world deserve to be free to choose who they love and be who they are.”

Drag phenomenon HOLEY FATHER spreads blasphemous fun wherever it can. With a mix of pop culture and social criticism, Holey makes people laugh, cry, but also think.

AGNETA LINCHEVSKAYA from Berlin is an icon of intellectual eroticism and the biggest rule breaker of burlesque. She stubbornly refuses to work according to the laws of this genre and likes to assert herself. She is suspected of being a double agent working undercover as a cabaret performer – ultra sexy, aristocratic, intelligent and extremely dangerous! Extremely suspicious, isn’t it? Join “Munich Kyiv Extravaganza” to find out the truth.

LIUDMYLA KURALIESOVA currently lives in Switzerland. The singer from Odesa feels confident in every musical genre, from rock to opera. Her performances are steeped in Ukrainian culture. In every song you can feel the endless expanse of the Ukrainian steppe, the warm breeze of the Black Sea and the majesty of the Ukrainian Carpathians.

Liudmyla’s art combines the irrepressible power of an independent woman with her sensitive lyrical nature. In her work, Liudmyla draws the attention of the world community to the war in Ukraine. She believes in equal rights for all people.

„Gender is a construct, build your own.“

Merritt Ocracy

MERRITT OCRACY is Munich’s Ukrainian Drag Quing. A faerie harlequin, a vintage prince of the mischievous abyss, a crossover chameleon that flies through space and time and has landed on stage from somewhere out there. Merritt says: “Gender is a construct, build your own.”

Munich Kyiv Extravaganza (Flyer: Stanislav Mishchenko) is a charity evening for queer war victims. The artists all waive their fees; the entrance fee will be donated to Ukrainian LGBTIQ* who are in need or on the run. At the entrance, Munich Kyiv Queer will be waiting at the info desk to answer all your questions.

When: Saturday, 10 June 2023, 8 p.m.; Admission from 6.30 p.m.
Where: Wirtshaus zum Isartal, Brudermühlstraße 2
Tickets: 29 euros plus booking fees, PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Organized by: Munich Kyiv Queer

This is how you can help

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations

Hanna realised very early on that she is actually asexual. Since then, the 29-year-old has completely reoriented her life for herself. However, the war brings back the traumatic experiences she had before. Our columnist Iryna Hanenkova met Hanna.

The story of my life begins in Kharkiv. It is the city of my strength, the city of my dreams, my alma mater. It taught me how to live and survive, how to love and fight. Today my whole country is at war.

My own “war” began when I realised that I was different, asexual. Nevertheless, I tried to prove to everyone that I was “like everyone else” so as not to stand out. This had consequences.

When I had the strength, I ended a relationship that was forced on me and felt better, physically of course and psychologically. At that time, I began to deal intensively with myself.

I was about 16 or 17 years old when I realised that I was not interested in sex, but mainly in relationships with people. I decided to read articles about it and learned about people who feel romantic but not physical attraction. Since then, I have been interested in the issues of gender and sex, in the “norms” and the “exceptions” that society has set for us.

I finally got to know myself, built boundaries and relationships that were comfortable for me and my loved ones. I explored the world and opened up to it as much as possible after all the violence I had experienced.

I built a wall around myself

During the war, my condition deteriorated. As my psychotherapist explained to me, my brain reacts painfully to any form of aggression and violence, both direct and indirect (e.g. in news). As a result, I became more sensitive to the stimuli around me. And my boundaries, which I had built up over the years to protect myself, soon resembled a stone wall. I was rigid and unfriendly.

I was stressed about losing my job, scared for my life …

This was compounded by harassment in the street, which eventually silenced me. The come-ons from men deepened my aversion to myself, my body and everything that had to do with sexuality in any way.

My life as an asexual and the confrontation with it have been going on since my childhood. When I analyse myself back then, I notice episodes that point to this. Today, I believe that it is normal to be asexual, to prefer not only physical pleasures, but also emotional, intellectual ones etc. That has always been the norm for me.

Over the years, I have experienced situations where my boundaries have been violated. And I don’t think I’m the only one. It’s important to talk about it so that it doesn’t just remain a traumatic memory, but is woven into our lives and makes us stronger.

The rustling of leaves calms me

Now, in the middle of the war, things that appeal to senses help to ground me: smells, touches, tastes, visual impressions. This can be reading by candlelight, for example. Or the sunrise outside, when the soft rustling of leaves or the chirping of small birds can be heard.

And of course I believe in the victory of our country and that each and every one of us is important, wherever and however we are.

This is how you can help

INDIVIDUAL HELP Munich Kyiv Queer has its own fundraising campaign via www.paypal.me/ConradBreyer to support people in Ukraine who need help and are not organised in the local LGBTIQ*-groups. We can help fast, directly and unbureaucratically.

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

Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations