LGBTQ+ UKRAINE EMEGENCY FUND
The belief that we are all one human family is fundamental to Rainbow World Fund and our efforts. We are unified with our world community in concern for the people of Ukraine. Over one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 8000 Ukrainians civilians including 487 children have been killed, 13,300 have been injured. Millions have fled to Poland and other near by countries, and 14 million have been displaced from their homes. Major cities remain under seize. Russian nuclear forces remain on high alert. The loss of military personnel on both sides has been staggering — over 120,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded and over 250,000 Russian troops have been killed or wounded. Although Ukraine forces has pushed back Russian troops and reclaimed ground the situation remains dire.
RWF is raising funds to support the LGBQT+ community in Ukraine. During this crisis, already vulnerable LGBTQ Ukrainians are even more at risk to be further marginalized and scapegoated.
We are funding the continued evacuation of members of the LGBTQ+ community from Kyiv, Kharkiv, and other cities to Lviv and Poland and providing funds to the LGBTQ+ community that remains. Please donate today!
Please be part of the LGBTQ+ community's response by making a donation to Rainbow World Fund’s Ukraine Emergency Fund. Our funds are being used to provide for LGBTQ+ humanitarian aid needs related to the circumstances of the war — food, emergency supplies, medical, communication, transportation, etc.
100% of your donation will fund these life-saving actions. Specify “Ukraine” when you donate online or when sending a check to RWF, 4111 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.
Our funds will support Fulcrum, Insight, and LIGA in Ukraine. All of the organizations are functioning in emergency mode. Right now they are focused on meeting the humanitarian needs related to the war — covering basic needs in protection, safety and health.
Fulcrum is one of the largest LGBTQ+ human rights organizations in Ukraine. Fulcrum works within the queer community to achieve greater civil freedoms and security. Co-founder Tymur Levchuk has had to flee to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine near the Polish border. He is coordinating efforts to help LGBTQ+ people flee to Lviv and Poland.
Insight has been helping transgender people in Ukraine for 10 years. They provide psychological, legal, and medical help and assistance transgender people. They also focus on the needs of lesbian and bisexual women.
LGBTQ Association LIGA, Ukraine’s oldest LGBTQ+ organization, is in Odesa and Mykolaiv and is providing a number of services including running together two shelters for the community during the war.
Hope is essential to our survival, our healing and humanity
In spite of this direness, there are still many signs of solidarity and of hope. The world has coming together to condemn and sanction Russia, peace rallies continue to taking place in many capital cities, opposition in Russia is growing with protests and arrests in major cities.
This is a time to remember who we really are — to call upon the better angels of our nature, to respond with courage, compassion, and generosity. We hope that you will be able to reach out and make an effort that will promote the well-being of our global family.
Your effort will not only provide needed aid but will create and share the hope that is essential to our survival, our healing and humanity.
Kyiv Pride parade 2019
LGBTQ+ rights in Ukraine
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer identified (LGBTQ+) people in Ukraine may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. Noncommercial, same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults in private is legal in Ukraine, but prevailing social attitudes are often described as being intolerant of LGBTQ+ people and households headed by same-sex couple are not eligible for any of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union and Ukraine's independence in 1991, the Ukrainian LGBTQ+ community has gradually become more visible and more organized politically, organizing several LGBTQ+ events in Kyviv, Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyrvyi Rih. These events have on occasion been marred by violent attacks by nationalist. Most Ukrainians affiliate with the Eastern Orthodox Church, which has a significant influence on the perception by society of members of the LGBTQ+ community. The Orthodox Church has opposed LGBTQ+ events and groups, often in the name of "combatting immorality", and has even encouraged violent attacks. As such, many LGBTQ+ people in Ukraine report feeling the need to lie about their true sexual orientation or gender identity in order to avoid being a target of discrimination or violent harassment. Several politicians have proposed suppressing freedom of speech and freedom of assembly for LGBTQ+ people, by enacting so-called "anti-propaganda" laws.
