Fleeing Russian Homophobia

This post is more of a LGBTQ current event than a wlw historical post, but is nonetheless very important. Anastasia reached out to me, asking that I help get their story out. Please read:

Meet Esenia and Anastasia (and their daughter.) They lived in Russia for most of their lives until Putin’s law banning LGBTQ propoganda, which includes having a homosexual relationship, forced them to flee. Seeking a place where they could be free to be themselves, the family moved to a city called Kaliningrad in the hopes that people there might be more accepting.

Unfortunately, they were wrong. They were not allowed work and their daughter could not even attend school for very long. Because they were from another part of Russia, the school informed them that, unless they had special documents proving their daughter’s education, she would only have three months before they sent her to social services. Fearing that they might lose their daughter, they fled once again to Kiev, Ukraine.

The countries boardering Russia aren’t any more hospitable for members of the LGBTQ community, however. Esenia explains, “There’s lots of religious people in Georgia. People are spied on. In Belarus, you can be beaten up on the street and the police will do nothing about it, because the president says well they [the LGBTQ community] do not exist here.” But they had heard that Ukraine was different. They thought that, just maybe, they would not have to lie about who they were just to protect their own safety.

However, Ukraine did not prove to be much different. It was hard enough for them to even be able to find a place to stay due to the amount of homophobia in this country, but that was not where their problems ended. Anastasia and Esenia still cannot find work, their daughter has to be homeschooled, and they encounter homophobia even at the local grocery store. Esenia used to be a public school teacher, but now their only source of income is through online freelancing.

Their main goal in telling people about their situation is to warn others not to fall into their own footsteps. They wish to make sure that other members of the LGBTQ community fleeing homophobia in their own countries know that seeking refuge in Ukraine would be a mistake.

Here is the original article.

You can learn more about Esenia and Anastasia’s situation on Anastasia’s blog: @liumwind

Esenia and Anastasia want to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, but without work they are having a hard time even providing for themselves and their daughter. They hope to find a country where they can have jobs, where their daughter can attend public school, a place that will not discriminate against them for their sexual orientation, a place where they can live as themselves without fearing for their lives. Please do what you can to help this beautiful family get to their destination.

You can donate to their FundRazr here.