Dashed Hopes in Gay Ukraine

[Purveyor]

Ukrainians thought that, post-Maidan, their country would start to look more like Europe. But for members of the LGBT community, things may have even gotten worse.

By Dimiter Kenarov January 19, 2015

KIEV, Ukraine — It was a quiet evening in late autumn, perfect for going to the movies. Kiev’s Zhovten (October) theater, the oldest one in the city and a favorite with art-movie buffs, was showing a new French film called Les Nuits d’Été (Summer Nights), about a married man in 1950s France who leads a perfectly normal life — except that every weekend he goes to a cabin in the forest, where he dresses up as a woman. The screening was part of Ukraine’s annual Molodist film festival, which included a selection of queer-themed features, and many in the audience — about a hundred people in all — belonged to Kiev’s LGBT community.

Twenty minutes into the movie, just as the plot deepened, a loud noise, like exploding firecrackers, came from the back seats. Panic broke out, as people rushed toward the exits. By the time the fire engines finally arrived, flames had already engulfed the roof of the theater, and the Kiev sky was lit up by a wild blaze. The fire was eventually put out, but much of the cinema was destroyed. An incendiary smoke grenade was deemed the most likely cause; fortunately, there were no casualties.

The official investigation has yet to close, but two suspects were apprehended, reportedly confessing that they had aimed to disrupt the event and “express … contempt for LGBT people.” Two days after the fire at Zhovten, about a dozen men in camouflage and the insignia of the ultranationalist group Right Sector tried to shut down another LGBT film screening, calling it “amoral.” Asked at the recent Eurocities Conference how he would support human rights after the Zhovten homophobic attacks, Maidan’s hero and current Kiev mayor Vitali Klitschko said he considered human rights a good thing, but would “not stand up for gays and lesbians.”

It was not supposed to be that way in the new Ukraine.

The February revolution was aimed, first and foremost, at the ouster of the notoriously corrupt president Viktor Yanukovych and his criminal cabal. But there was also hope among many of the revolution’s liberal supporters that Ukraine would choose a pro-Western European course, not just politically, but culturally as well — one that would include a space for the LGBT community. Life has changed radically in Ukraine over the past year: Old attitudes toward politics, history, and national identity have altered beyond recognition and a new civic spirit has taken root among many, revitalizing Ukraine. But conservative attitudes toward people of different sexual orientation have doggedly persevered — and in some cases even worsened.

more...

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/19/dashed-hopes-in-gay-ukraine-maidan-russia/

[Fred Sanders]

1. So they are no better than the religious kooks in Russia that have a stranglehold on gay hate?

[Igel]

2. Many of the Right Sector folk are just plain thugs.

Thing is, it's hard to know the level of support they have for this kind of action. They have little political support.

At the same time, this is one thing they have in common with the folks running the DNR and LNR in the Donbas, except there it's official "government" policy and more common there. Public beating, raiding clubs, etc., etc.

The distinction is clear enough in the Donbas and in Russia that a standard way of describing the Ukrainians is as supporting gay rights. May not be great and all that huge when seen from a distance of thousands of miles, but to those in the region it's apparently fairly obvious.