'It's Even Worse Than Before': How The 'Revolution Of Dignity' Failed LGBT Ukrainians
By Christopher Miller
KYIV -- Anastasia Eva Domani lists several personal milestones in her 39-year life. Her wedding was one. The birth of her daughter was another.
Two more were the day she began hormone-replacement therapy as part of her transition to becoming a woman two years ago, and when she finally obtained legal documents that match her gender identity.
The last two, she told RFE/RL in a recent interview at Kyiv's President Hotel, might never have been possible -- or would have been significantly more difficult -- if not for another, more public, milestone: the Euromaidan uprising of 2013-14, known by many Ukrainians as the Revolution of Dignity.
WATCH: A Hromadske TV documentary featuring Anastasia Eva Domani
Indeed, among the hundreds of thousands of protesters who endured freezing temperatures during the months-long, pro-democracy street protests were dozens of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Ukrainians -- including Domani, who had not yet come out to many family and friends and was still publicly using her birth name, Oleksandr.
The unrest and public outrage at the resulting clampdown ultimately propelled the ouster of a Moscow-friendly president for a pro-Western administration, tipping Ukraine and its 45 million people toward European institutions and cementing the enmity of neighboring Russia.
The protests also struck at a "really crucial moment for the LGBT community," according to Olena Shevchenko, chair of the Kyiv-based LGBT rights NGO Insight.
Shortly before the demonstrations began on November 21, 2013, Ukraine's parliament had passed the first reading of a bill that would have criminalized the spread of so-called "gay propaganda."
"It was worse than laws in Russia," Shevchenko said, referring to legislation passed earlier the same year that essentially forbid public mention of homosexuality. Under the Russian law, violators can be punished with fines, while gay-pride events have been blocked and activists detained.
"But our [Ukrainian] deputies were considering criminal responsibility for so-called ‘gay propaganda,'" meaning jail time, Shevchenko said. "If Euromaidan had not started, we were 100 percent sure it would have passed."
So when protesters ousted President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014 and the bill was abandoned, the LGBT community was optimistic that laws would be amended to curb discrimination and that societal attitudes would change.
That seemed more possible with the new government in Kyiv promising to impose European standards and values.
"There were many LGBTI people out there...in 2013 and 2014, protesting against the Yanukovych government’s repression and in support of democracy, dignity, and a closer relationship with Europe," said Matthew Schaff, Freedom House’s Ukraine office director.
But Domani and many other LGBT Ukrainians still face persecution and prejudice. They complain that the rights and freedoms demanded by the protesters on Kyiv's Independence Square, or simply the Maidan, have been overlooked and ignored.
Domani was among the first people to heed public calls to gather on the Maidan. The first thing she did was to add her name and contact information to a list where Ukrainians arriving from outside the capital could seek housing so they could remain in Kyiv during the protests.
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