Hi Semyon, I've read your post on this site and I'm sorry to hear about your situation in Ukraine.

We are a group of students from Stockholm, Sweden that just got back from a 2 week long study trip in Ukraine where we visited Kiev, Kharkov and Odessa. The purpose of the trip was to study the situation of the ukrainian population and social issues. We are now working on a project studying LGBTI groups in Ukraine and we would appreiciate any information or thoughts you have concearning the subject. We are very thankful if anyone else on this site has any useful information about the situation for LGBTI people in Ukraine. Don't hesitate to contact us, you will be completely anonymous in our project if you so wish.

/Simona, Stockholm LGBTI
Email address: sthlmlgbti@hotmail.se

Our school: http://www.globalagymnasiet.se/

The best web-site of russian gay community:

http://www.chuvaki.com

Hello ,i`m 18 student of 2d course living in Kharkiv,Ukraine. Well, till now nobody knows about my gay orientantion . This time of my live is very hard . Not because nobody knows the truth . It`s even normal for me I dont care about it - because post-soviet contries have bad stereotipes . I dont now where i can find "my gender" people,because 90% of us is hidden in the shadow . So it`s very lonely. And the most desperate thing for me ... I being in love with heterosexual 3d time. It`s so painful .. But how can i love some1 for me if i didnt meet him yet??????

Ukrainian LGBT organization absolutely has not responded to the precedent with Igor ...
Ukrainian LGBT organizations engaged in issues of religious affirmation and make overtures toward the Russian Orthodox Church ...
Igor is ready to commit suicide - he feels useless ...

In addition, there were about ten similar cases! In the city of Donetsk militia fun, chasing guys gay.

http://deemon-amorales.livejournal.com/179569.html

Hi,

I am writing you about the recent events in Ukraine. The Ukraine police is running a covert antigay operation.

Recently, a talented young Russian-Ukrainian poet Igor Bobyrev living in Donetsk became their victim.

On a social web-network Contact he was approached by someone who insisted on seeing a nude picture of him, which he eventually sent. The person proposed to meet, but when arrived, Igor was arrested by the police. In the police station, he was detained for a day, badly beaten, and verbally abused for being gay.

Eventually they let him go. He went to the doctor to assess the injuries, but later the police contacted him and forced him to sign the paper that he has no objections, promising that all will be "forgotten".

Several days ago, three plain-clothes police officers arrived to his apartment, accused him in spreading pornography, abused him verbally, confiscated his computer, and wrote down all his contacts from the social network. He was banned from using Internet for a month and required to quit all "all the communities of homosexual type"

Ultra-conservatism, homophobia, hypocrisy, and corruption are hallmarks of the authorities in the post-Soviet space. Now, in Ukraine, the police uses their power and impunity to quietly criminalize being gay and destroy gay people's lives once again.

It would be great to give this story more publicity to show support to the Ukrainian gay from the international gay community and put pressure on the Ukrainian authorities to stop the persecution.

Thanks and regards,

V. V.

P. S. Here are some links to blogs about what happened, all in Russian, of course - I can translate, if you need:

http://alex-motsar.livejournal.com/277831.html
http://cherubinadg.livejournal.com/218710.html
http://igor-bobirev.livejournal.com/1775603.html
http://igor-bobirev.livejournal.com/1776729.html
http://igor-bobirev.livejournal.com/1777227.html
http://igor-bobirev.livejournal.com/1786109.html
http://melancholy-gay.livejournal.com/63143.html
http://deemon-amorales.livejournal.com/93056.html
http://deemon-amorales.livejournal.com/93412.html
http://www.kvir.ru/68_29.html