Relevant chapter on restrictions in state broadcast media:
Article 36. Restrictions on the content of information
Entities in the field of audiovisual, print and online media are prohibited from disseminating
calls for violent change, overthrow of the constitutional order of Ukraine, unleashing or waging an aggressive war or military conflict, violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, materials or information justifying or promoting such actions
statements inciting enmity or hatred towards individuals or their groups on national, racial or religious grounds;
statements that incite discrimination or harassment against individuals or groups of individuals on the basis of ethnic origin, citizenship, race, religion and beliefs, age, sex, gender identity, physical disability, health or other grounds;
propaganda or calls for terrorism and terrorist acts, materials or information justifying such actions;
films, distribution and demonstration of which is prohibited in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Cinematography";
pornographic materials, as well as materials that encourage sexual exploitation and violence against children, demonstrate sexual relations of children;
promotion of the use of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances;
promotion of cruelty to animals;
instructions or advice on the manufacture, purchase or use of explosives, narcotic or psychotropic substances;
materials or information that deny or justify the criminal nature of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917-1991 in Ukraine, the criminal nature of the national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regime, create a positive image of persons who held senior positions in the Communist Party (the position of secretary of the district committee and above), the highest authorities and governments of the USSR, the Ukrainian SSR (Ukrainian SSR), other union and autonomous Soviet republics (except for cases related to the development of Ukrainian science and culture), employees of the Soviet state security bodies, justifies the activities of the Soviet state security bodies, the establishment of Soviet power on the territory of Ukraine or in certain administrative-territorial units, persecution of participants in the struggle for independence of Ukraine in the XX century. Peculiarities of distribution and demonstration of films containing popularization of Soviet state security bodies are regulated by the Law of Ukraine "On Cinematography";
materials or information that demonstrate the symbols of the communist or national socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regime in order to justify or deny their criminal nature, except for cases stipulated by the Law of Ukraine "On Condemnation of the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes in Ukraine and Prohibition of Propaganda of Their Symbols"
statements or materials that humiliate or disparage the state language.
I will be posting each instance and context of each reference to 'sexuality' in separate posts so bear with me.
I care very deeply about our community and do everything I can to fight against misconceptions of foreign LGBT people and organizations and how they operate. This small addendum to this bill was a tremendous amount of work by a handful of LGBT rights lawyers in Ukraine, and this is the best they could do with the Ukrainian government. Remember that and remember that this unanimous vote is a cynical ploy, not an actual wave of change in favor of LGBT people.
It's really appreciated. We need this kind of information out there when our basic rights are both constantly under attack and constantly instrumentalized so that cishet moderates can pat themselves on the back and say "see, we're not queerphobic, we do not openly persecute queer people like they do in those countries" while doing nothing to save us from reactionaries out for our blood.
The thing is this Adam Zivo character seems to act like theyre a queer 'journalist' or something. So blind to the plight of our community that they don't even do basic research in a language that they allegedly speak! He talks about interviewing LGBT people, saying they think it is greatly improved, that Ukraine is doing well even on LGBT rights. I cannot even say that about America! The man is an Uncle Tom.
It's such an easy way to silence criticism from the left to point to Russia's abysmal track record on LGBT issues while pinkwashing Ukraine. And it's incredibly disingenuous given how horrible Ukraine is in that regard. Support for gay marriage is something like 20% of the population (for context, that's about half as much as in the most persecutory red states in the USA), Zelenski made transphobic jokes on his TV show the very week before he was elected, Azov terrorized queer people as much as they terrorized Roma, i could go on. Even before the war, it really wasn't a safe place to live when you're LGBT, and it is absolutely needed to call this out.
For the record, when I worked with Rainbow Railroad we'd usually try to get people to Prague and St. Petersburg. Those were our two ideal choices for Slavic areas. Big bonus to St. Petersburg for Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians is that if shit goes real south its not too hard to flee to Finland, but usually St. Petersburg is enough and not many knew languages other than Russian anyways.
Since I know Czech (more or less I guess) I mostly worked with people needing resources to get to Prague.
Yeah, it's worth keeping in mind that fleeing domestically is often the easiest option. I can imagine there's a massive difference between living in St. Petersburg or, say, somewhere in rural Chechnya. On top of that, the situation for LGBT refugees from Russia has become a lot worse now due to the travel restrictions many countries in western Europe placed on Russian citizens - most EU states do not issue tourist visa to Russians anymore and some places like Finland do not allow Russians to enter at all any longer. Russian LGBT people who make it to the EU by taking the indirect route through Belarus or Georgia are frequently faced with pushbacks to these countries.
It's unbelievable how European governments have the gall to condemn Putin for his treatment of LGBT people and then immediately afterwards slam the door in the face of Russian LGBT people who come here seeking help.
Relevant chapter on restrictions in state broadcast media:
Article 36. Restrictions on the content of information
I will be posting each instance and context of each reference to 'sexuality' in separate posts so bear with me.
:rosa-salute: Thank you so much for your work, comrade!
I care very deeply about our community and do everything I can to fight against misconceptions of foreign LGBT people and organizations and how they operate. This small addendum to this bill was a tremendous amount of work by a handful of LGBT rights lawyers in Ukraine, and this is the best they could do with the Ukrainian government. Remember that and remember that this unanimous vote is a cynical ploy, not an actual wave of change in favor of LGBT people.
It's really appreciated. We need this kind of information out there when our basic rights are both constantly under attack and constantly instrumentalized so that cishet moderates can pat themselves on the back and say "see, we're not queerphobic, we do not openly persecute queer people like they do in those countries" while doing nothing to save us from reactionaries out for our blood.
The thing is this Adam Zivo character seems to act like theyre a queer 'journalist' or something. So blind to the plight of our community that they don't even do basic research in a language that they allegedly speak! He talks about interviewing LGBT people, saying they think it is greatly improved, that Ukraine is doing well even on LGBT rights. I cannot even say that about America! The man is an Uncle Tom.
It's such an easy way to silence criticism from the left to point to Russia's abysmal track record on LGBT issues while pinkwashing Ukraine. And it's incredibly disingenuous given how horrible Ukraine is in that regard. Support for gay marriage is something like 20% of the population (for context, that's about half as much as in the most persecutory red states in the USA), Zelenski made transphobic jokes on his TV show the very week before he was elected, Azov terrorized queer people as much as they terrorized Roma, i could go on. Even before the war, it really wasn't a safe place to live when you're LGBT, and it is absolutely needed to call this out.
For the record, when I worked with Rainbow Railroad we'd usually try to get people to Prague and St. Petersburg. Those were our two ideal choices for Slavic areas. Big bonus to St. Petersburg for Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians is that if shit goes real south its not too hard to flee to Finland, but usually St. Petersburg is enough and not many knew languages other than Russian anyways.
Since I know Czech (more or less I guess) I mostly worked with people needing resources to get to Prague.
Yeah, it's worth keeping in mind that fleeing domestically is often the easiest option. I can imagine there's a massive difference between living in St. Petersburg or, say, somewhere in rural Chechnya. On top of that, the situation for LGBT refugees from Russia has become a lot worse now due to the travel restrictions many countries in western Europe placed on Russian citizens - most EU states do not issue tourist visa to Russians anymore and some places like Finland do not allow Russians to enter at all any longer. Russian LGBT people who make it to the EU by taking the indirect route through Belarus or Georgia are frequently faced with pushbacks to these countries.
It's unbelievable how European governments have the gall to condemn Putin for his treatment of LGBT people and then immediately afterwards slam the door in the face of Russian LGBT people who come here seeking help.