Tight standards

In the past two years, the LGBT community in the Crimea and Donbas part was ruled by new laws. Experts anti-discrimination center “Memorial” interviewed the participants of the gay community as still living in these regions, as well as those who left due to changes in the political situation, about what are these new laws. Survey materials were included in the report “Violation of the rights of LGBTI people in the Crimea and Donbas: the problem of homophobia in the territories beyond the control of Ukraine”. It is obvious that the level of homophobia in the Crimea and Donbas before was high, and transparency in matters of sexual orientation and gender identity, with rare exceptions, did not exist. According to the respondents say about their sexuality openly – “mean guaranteed to enter the conflict Friends may turn away some people is frightening and shocking.”.

In Ukraine, the situation of sexual minorities after the change of power has begun to improve, but these positive developments, for obvious reasons, did not affect the residents of the breakaway republic in the east, where even offered to legalize gay death penalty. Although laws are not adopted, the witnesses confirm that the murder “for the orientation” occurred. Crimea spring 2014 attacks on the LGBT community organized nationalists, who came from Russia. Since then, the level of homophobia in the peninsula has not decreased. Intolerance, fueled by aggressive rhetoric, has meant that we have to face more and more violent.

Information about the facts of violence in these areas is particularly difficult to assemble. Violence against gays is perceived by many is almost the norm, so the beatings, as a rule, none of the victims did not pay attention to such cases, do not tell. Being attacked, and in the Crimea and Donbas is possible even for non-standard appearance. Here is the testimony of a participant of the Crimea Poll: “He was just an earring, a man saw this and began:” Are you one of “those”? Are you f *** k? “The man rushed to beat him.” One of the respondents said that in the autumn of 2015 the appearance of the familiar in Donetsk in bright trousers caused an immediate reaction homophobic: “His five minutes ten times called n *** rum.”

It is well known that armed separatists actively apply to prisoners violence, torture, humiliation, forced them to work, demanding a ransom. But the risks are still much higher than for the LGBT community. An eyewitness from Donetsk, said: “This is the territory of anarchy, you can do anything you like, for example, and take a shot.”. A former resident of Donetsk said: “Every day I was afraid for my life on leaving the house, we dug a trench, going to meet the Ukrainian army, asked a passport Buhie, smelly, with machine guns can be deprived of life….” Everyone knows that, being “in the basement” in Donetsk, people are very much at risk. Some respondents argued that not all back there. Many of those who had been captured, sent to dig trenches. Witnesses later left the Donetsk, told ” On the trenches – a cannon fodder. There are checkpoints at which snipers, so they let them to dig trenches. “

Armed men hunted gay and captures them “captive”: “If you’re gay, then you are supporter of Europe, as Ukraine seeks to Europe, then you for Ukraine Someone could catch in the street, and someone could pass,. to say that he lives in such a home simply pulls the car, waiting at the entrance, and then the person taking armed men seized a minor boy, when he smoked instead of punishment said to him… “Give two people,” and he passed the two brothers. . We took them at different times. “

One respondent described what happened “in captivity”: “My friend was, he had surgery on the kidneys, it is taken to the basement because his rent three months Keep in some basement, give food really like dogs. in some bowls leg podpihivayut attitude terrible. She was beaten with a stick metal, insulted, because he was gay. ” At the same time, according to eyewitnesses, in the ranks of armed groups of so-called DNR and LNR are composed by representatives of the LGBT community. An eyewitness from Donetsk, said that because of the need for money girl “fit into the DNI, and then it just took and beat so that the two weeks she could not leave the house. She wanted to go to Ossetia, but a man of the DNI itself out, I found it and beat. If you would have learned that it is LGBT, it would simply be shot. “

The authorities of the breakaway republics and Eastern Ukrainian Crimea, not hiding their homophobic beliefs, trying once again to speak on a topical subject. “Zampolit Ministry of Defense” so-called DNR, said : “engrafted culture of homosexuality … So we have to kill everyone involved in this.” Unambiguous threats voiced head of the Crimea Sergey Aksenov: “In Crimea, such people do not need and activities they never publicly will not hold police and self-defense … to quickly explain the orientation that must be kept.”. In the Crimea and Donbas many members of the LGBT community are forced “to cover” start in heterosexual relationships, to marry under the pressure of the parents or the public.

The difficulty of communication has become one of the important problems in the Crimea and Donbas. Remaining there said: “Chase paranoia that after you watch I feel how much effort goes to withdraw itself from the constant state of panic.”. The territories controlled by the separatists, the situation is compounded by the fear that gays can “pass” not only because of their sexual orientation, but also for his political stance. Respondents from Luhansk says: “Even if a real Gay wants to meet you, I meet him, and he will start me scratching about great Luhansk People’s Republic How do I know what his position, we are definitely going to tell anyone how to live as well.? . I – pro-Ukrainian Maybe he’s a friend call and say: “Over there lives dill”, to me at night to come and arrest. “

In particularly difficult situation were transgender people, whose photographs in the documents are different from their appearance. They could neither stay in the Crimea and the Donbass because of the risk to life or to go from there. Couple Transgender women told that they were able to leave the Donetsk region on the day of the Orthodox holiday, when in the morning all the militias were drunk, and no one checked documents. Transgender man was able to leave Donetsk only facilitated by the UN, and while he was in the so-called DNR, checking his documents more than once ended in gunfire and beatings. Transgender people staying in the Crimea and Donbas, are unable to make the transition and to obtain new documents, live in constant fear and deep depression. Extremely vulnerable after the annexation of the Crimea and the proclamation of the DNR and LNR were LGBT children.

It is obvious that in these conditions of LGBT activism in Crimea and Donbas. almost impossible. As one of the respondents from the Crimea, “the struggle for equality does not make sense, there are few fighters.”

Author: Inessa Sakhno – Expert Anti-Discrimination Center “Memorial”

Sourse, 29/06/2016