Sick, without job
Munich Kyiv Queer continues collecting stories from LGBTIQ* in Ukraine. We want to know: How are you? Living with a war? Raising awareness for the situation of this vulnerable social group and mobilize support is our main goal right now. This is the story of Pavel.
Pavel comes from Mykolaiv. The town is close to the front and Pavel still lives there. He is grateful for the help he has received. Because he is sick, it is difficult for him to find work. And jobs are scarce in the middle of the war anyway. That is why he asked the NGO “You are not alone” for support. VIDEO
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 and a half year ago. As you can see: Your donations really help.
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 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 like “You are not alone” and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people like Volodymyr. Every donation helps and is used 100 percent to benefit queer people in Ukraine. Donate here
Questions? www.MunichKyivQueer.org/donations
We’re back. On 4th of November we celebrate queer solidarity with our friends in Ukraine. The Charity Drag Show starts at 8 pm. Get your tickets now.
Munich’s emcee and “reality seller” Markus Laymann (photo: Verena Gremmer; below right) presents artists from Germany and Ukraine with Bavaria’s one and only Ukrainian drag queen Samantha Jackson (photo: Raphael Renter; below left).
They have all joined forces to support LGBTIQ* in and from Ukraine with an entertaining cabaret evening. We offer you an extravagant show with drag, music, burlesque, magic and comedy.
And these are our guests from Germany
She is the enfant terrible of the German burlesque scene. When RUBY TUESDAY reveals herself on stage, it’s getting hot. Ruby has been performing throughout Europe as a neo-burlesque performer for over eleven 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 (photo: Verena Gremmer; below) 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.
MERRITT OCRACY is Munich’s Ukrainian Drag Quing (Photo: Merlyn Charles Nieto; below left). 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.”
PERRY STROIKA does strange things (photo: Verena Gremmer; below right) and rhinestones his underwear. Munich’s well known drag king moves aesthetically somewhere between camp and campsite owner. In his performances he likes to show people the silly side of masculinity.
From Ukraine we get to see
BEE QUING (photo below left) came to Germany because of the war. They love to entertain the audience with their energy and improvised dance steps. Combining their passion for dance with drag is an experience that amazes us all.
The mysterious VIRIENA (photo below right), winner of Voice Zaporizhzhia, has also been living in Germany for a good year now. She has already given many concerts here and inspires the fans with her expressive voice.
Meet our hosts
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. 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.”
Reality seller MARKUS LAYMANN is a missionary of intelligent entertainment. That is why the style of his magic programmes is more cabaret than serious magic. The focus is always on entertainment, on entertaining the audience. In times when there are no more miracles for the enlightened spectator, it is more important to address him directly, to make him laugh or think or to surprise him.
And last but not least
Our stage hand is a young vegetable and the only source of vitamins who volunteers to help pick up underwear: That’s our dear Radieschen!
Munich Kyiv Cabaret 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.
Munich Kyiv Cabaret Charity Drag Show in aid of Munich Kyiv Queer
When Saturday, 4 November 2023, 8 p.m.; admission from 6.30 p.m.
Where Drehleier, Rosenheimer Straße 123
Tickets 29/25 euros plus advance booking fees, PURCHASE TICKETS HERE
Organised by Munich Kyiv Queer, Drehleier
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 like “You are not alone” and use funds for urgently needed care or evacuation of queer people like Volodymyr. 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
Do you like to sing? Would you like to meet people from Ukraine, get to know them and perhaps make new friends ? In this case, we can offer you a perfect evening programme.
Join our karaoke competition on Tuesday, 11th of April, from 7 pm, at the Lesbian-queer centre LeZ. Germans and Ukrainians will meet to sing against each other.
This evening organized by our dear friend Oleksandra Semenova from the NGO “You are not alone” and Stephanie Hügler is all about proving your own show talent, competing with others and having fun. Cool awards await the winners.
Singing together brings new friends
With our mentoring programme we want to bring Ukrainian and German queers together; they will get to know each other better.
On the long run, we hope this will lead to stable mentor-mentee relationships between people from Ukraine and Germany (one-to-one mentoring). However, there is no obligation to take on a mentorship during this evening!
When: Tuesday, 11th of April, 7 p.m.
Where: LeZ, Müllerstraße 26, Munich
Please register: mentoring@munichkyivqueer.org (Marco and Steffi)
Organized by: Munich Kyiv Queer, 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
The war in Europe makes people feel helpless. Just watching people die in Ukraine is frustrating. But you can do something here in Munich – even if your flat is small, your wallet might be empty and your Ukrainian language skills are limited. Open your hearts for queer refugees from Ukraine and become a mentor. A first meeting will take place on 28th of February at 7pm at the lesbian-queer community centre LeZ, Müllerstraße 26.
Becoming a mentor? Is not complicated at all. First of all, it’s all about simple things: invite our friends from Ukraine to your home or simply have a coffee together, go for a walk or visit a concert. Share your hobby, your sport, your music.
If it suits you, support them dealing with the authorities, help if they have problems with their landords or on the job.
After almost a year of war, our friends are looking for perspectives in order to make a living here. To do so, they need to get in touch with people who speak German and understand how the local society works.
We don’t just offer them a roof (in German: DACH) to survive. We offer a safe space to find help and orientation. Nobody’s left behind.
Kick-off: Help and find new friends
To this end, we are launching the DACH mentoring programme. And we invite you to the kick-off meeting on Tuesday, 28th of February, at 7pm at the lesbian-queer centre LeZ in Müllerstraße 26.
What awaits you at LeZ? A nice evening to get to know each other. Mentors and mentees will introduce themselves. Drinks, snacks will be at your disposal; we’ll have som music and maybe even sing ;).
What do I bring? Just yourself. Be curios!
Do I have to commit right away? No, if you are interested, you can first listen to everything we have to say, you’ll be introduced to the other mentors and mentees and then you may consider everything once again. If you are interested, we will send you a questionnaire about our mentoring programme. If you are already sure, you can also register here (in German language though).
Where can I get more information? Send an email to mentoring@munichkyivqueer.org or just drop by.
Don’t forget: Helping others does not only bring good karma – it’s also fun! Our Ukrainian friends have a lot to offer. And you have the chance to expand your circle of friends, meet new people and learn about another culture.
When: Tuesday, 28th of February, 7 p.m.
Where: LeZ, Müllerstraße 26, Munich
Contact: mentoring@MunichKyivQueer.org
Organized by: Munich Queer Homes, Munich Kyiv Queer, 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
HOUSING FOR QUEER REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE LGBTIQ* often have seen discrimination in their lifes, therefore queer refugees are particularly vulnerable. Many are traumatised and now they experience re-traumatisation on the run. We want to offer them a home where they feel comfortable and can live without fear. Depending on availability, we rent two-, three-, four- or five-room flats and sublet them to people in need as shared flats. Our association does not have any funding yet, so we depend on donations. For example, we have to advance rent and deposits until the State’s job centres step in.
Donate here:
Münchner Bank eG
IBAN DE16 7019 0000 0003 1425 66
Munich Queer Homes e.V.