GRANTEE
The queer community of Ukraine is facing not only the threat of their country being taken over by an invading force but potentially being prosecuted under an occupying government, as the Russian regime has made any expression of LGBTQ+ values illegal in their own land. Like many other Ukrainians, the country’s LGBTQ+ community has mobilized their efforts to take part in the fight for their country. Many queer people have put on uniforms, and besides sharing values and a desire to fight for their freedom, they are united by a special patch they wear on their uniforms: a unicorn. A mythical creature that symbolizes both their power and uniqueness.
Before the war, the LGBTQ+ community of Ukraine had its fair share of issues that its members had to deal with on a daily basis. Homosexuality is stigmatized on a domestic level in the country, and many had the feeling of not being accepted into society. Same-sex marriage is still not legal in Ukraine.
By fighting, the members of the Ukrainian queer community are also trying to prove that they are full members of Ukrainian society and deserve respect and recognition like anyone else.
This series will explore the lives of the people who are fighting in the war with Russia and battling prejudice at the same time. It will explore the lives of queer people on the frontlines and tell their story––the one they are living now, and the one they want to tell for the future of Ukraine. This series will concentrate on the stories of several individuals fighting within the ranks of the Ukrainian military––both couples and single people telling their stories, following them on and off the front line. I want to tell a comprehensive story of what it is like to be a queer person in an overwhelmingly conservative military establishment, draw an emotional portrait of each individual, and also paint a wider picture of what they are fighting for besides the liberation of their country––their freedom to exist in a post-war free and democratic Ukraine.