Ukraine: Pride is Not Available in Your Region
Published on: Aug 17, 2022
Written by: Joey Hodgson
“Pride is Not Available in Your Region” is an International Pride social video project created by propatriotic queer movement UKRAINEPRIDE NGO in collaboration with LGBTQIA+ social dating app “Taimi.” We sat down with Yura Dvizhon, the director of the film and creative director at UKRAINEPRIDE NGO to tell us everything we should know about the project as well as how the war has affected the queer community in Ukraine.
What can you tell us about the project?
Pride Is Not Available in Your Region is a social awareness campaign video dedicated to Pride Month, the celebration of which was impossible in Ukraine this June. This short film describes the life of Ukrainian queer people during the war. It shows how they are fighting for our freedom. Pride Is Not Available in Your Region illustrates how destructive this war is for queer people, for Ukrainians, and for the whole world. The film’s main mission is to make the world hear the voices of the Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ community and the voices of the Ukrainian nation in general.
What would you consider to be UKRAINEPRIDE NGO’S mission statement?
UKRAINEPRIDE NGO is a propatriotic queer movement aimed at the protection and education of Ukrainian cultural self-identification. We nurture our cultural identity and defend it to share it with our soulmates from various countries, people of different ethnic-racial origins and religious backgrounds. We preserve and protect our culture to tell the entire world about it. Since 2014 Ukraine has proved its focus on democratic development, which is antagonistic toward the imperialist worldview dominating in Russia. Currently, we have the opportunity to attain equal rights for the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as all discriminated groups. We are not afraid of anything. We are defending our land.
What is Reyvakh Pride about and what makes it so important? How was the reception to it last year?
“Reyvakh Pride” is a creative political performance, which was disguised as a rave outside the Ukrainian president’s office.The purpose of the event was to draw public attention to the safety of queer people, the arbitrariness of the police, the lack of investigation into past crimes of radical groups against the community, as well as Kyiv’s electronic scene. This was the revolutionary event for the community. For the first time in the history of Ukrainian LGBTQIA+ activism, we managed to hold a 9-hours event where people could express their identity and enjoy dancing. The performance resonated much with the community and attracted many international and local media. “Reyvakh Pride” was supposed to become an annual event.
What do you hope that viewers learn from the film?
We hope that the world will see how the war affects an independent progressive society. We want the audience to understand what freedoms we have today and how we defend our state’s opportunities for further development. Ukrainian society should be able to develop without any authoritarian influence and imposition of values by other countries. Also, we want to show that we do not divide our society: we are all equal and march toward Ukraine’s victory.
How has the war affected the LGBTQIA+ community in Ukraine?
Being queer means to fight on even more fronts to stay visible and equal during the war. We can lose everything we’ve gained during years of activism. Ukraine has become a shelter and home for many LGBTQIA+ people from all over the post-Soviet space (Kazakhstan, Georgia, Belarus, Russia). Also, a lot of us feel more pressure defending the land as armed forces members or volunteering because of our identity. A significant part of the community were involved in creative industries that suffer now due to the impossibility to run projects. We seek peace. But peace at any cost is not an option for us. We didn’t start this war. Our sovereignty and territorial integrity are not subject to compromise.
What can us as viewers in other countries do to help the issues of the LGBTQIA+ community in Ukraine?
We strongly need international support from the LGBTQIA+ community and allies to speak about LGBTQIA+ Ukrainians during the Russian invasion. We encourage them to do everything possible that will help Ukraine win. We urge them to terminate any kind of partnership with Russian companies, agencies, individuals; support Ukraine with donations; organize local anti-war demonstrations; supply Ukraine with humanitarian aid; and contribute to media coverage. If there are brands and companies among your audience that are willing to collaborate with UKRAINEPRIDE or other Ukrainian organizations and support Ukraine as Taimi does, they can make a huge collective impact on our struggle. If the world doesn’t pay attention to what’s going on in Ukraine, the war will come to other European countries.
Pride is Not Available in Your Region is streaming now on OUTtv and you can find links to donate and follow the campaign below:
Social Media: @ukraine.pride
How to Donate: https://www.ukrainepride.org