Learning the Lessons from the Euromaidan: The ups and downs of LGBT Activism in the Ukrainian public sphere
Journal Title: Kyiv-Mohyla Law and Politics Journal - Year 2017, Vol 3, Issue
Abstract
This paper addresses the growing visibility of LGBT civil society organizations in Ukraine’s political sphere after the Euromaidan. Drawing on the data collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews; participant observations; and an analysis of social media, this study answers this question: How did Ukrainian LGBT groups reshape their political strategies after the Euromaidan? The Euromaidan was an anti-government, citizens’ protest that began in November 2013 in response to the government’s unlawful actions. During it, Ukrainian LGBT activists strategically decided to keep their presence in the protest camp invisible. Though this helped to avoid conflicts, the LGBT movement’s hopes for reforms in sexual minorities’ rights after the Euromaidan remained unfulfilled. This article illuminates how the LGBT activists’ approach to the public sphere in post-Euromaidan Ukraine has changed. It argues that the LGBT movement’s disillusion over the new government’s lack of support triggered a wave of LGBT activism that has resulted in new political strategies. Despite the visible backlash against sexual minorities in 2014–2015, Ukraine’s current turmoil has given the LGBT movement opportunities for political alliances and transnational activism that have seemed to have borne fruit.
Authors and Affiliations
Maryna Shevtsova
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP526196
- DOI 10.18523/kmlpj120123.2017-3.157-180
- Views 75
- Downloads 0
Post-Conflict Reparation: Ukrainian Restitution Remedies for Property and Restitution Complaints before the European Court of Human Rights
This article describes the proposed Ukrainian legislation on national remedies for the restitution of property damaged or destroyed during the conflicts in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea. Noting gaps in this proposed legisla...
The Holodomor of 1932–1933 in Ukraine as a Crime of Genocide under International Law [Holodomor 1932–1933 rokiv v Ukraini iak zlochyn henotsydu zhidno z mizhnarodnym pravom], eds. Volodymyr Vasylenko and Myroslava Antonovych
"The Holodomor of 1932–1933 in Ukraine as a Crime of Genocide under International Law" [Holodomor 1932–1933 rokiv v Ukraini iak zlochyn henotsydu zhidno z mizhnarodnym pravom] (Kyiv: Vydavnychyi dim “Kyievo-Mohylianska a...
Legal Challenges of the EU-Belarus Relations
EU-Belarus relations have seen many changes throughout the years ranging from closer engagement to isolation. Although recently the relations started to improve, the main international agreement between Belarus and the E...
Taras Kuzio. Putin's War Against Ukraine. North Charleston: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2017
"Putin’s War Against Ukraine" [“Akademiky” i Akademiia. Sotsialna istoriia osvity i osvichenosti v Ukraini XVIII st.] (North Charleston: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, 2017. 474 pp., ISBN: 9781543285864 15...
The Orange and Euromaidan Revolutions: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives
Ukraine has experienced two popular uprisings in a decade (2004, 2013–2014), which took place in four different circumstances. Firstly, the Orange Revolution began as a protest against election fraud during an election c...