Sexuality and Revolution in Post-Soviet Ukraine: LGBT Rights and the Euromaidan Protests of 2013-2014

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Date
2016
Authors
Martsenyuk, Tamara
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Abstract
While some attention has been paid to the role of women and gender aspects during the Euromaidan protests (2013-2014), there is a lack of research focusing on questions of homosexuality in this connection. This article examines the evolution of the situation regarding homosexuality and LGBT rights during the Euromaidan protests. The empirical base consists of 20 interviews conducted in July-August 2014 with LGBT rights activists, all of whom were involved in the Euromaidan protests. The respondents were asked a number of questions about the visibility of the LGBT community during the Euromaidan; about which events they considered to be significant for the LGBT community; and about the positive and negative aspects of the Euromaidan with regard to the human rights situation for LGBT people. The “strategy of invisibility” chosen by LGBT activists during this protest is analyzed and criticized here with the help of the concept of “homonationalism.” In addition, the article investigates the ways in which LGBT activists in Ukraine reproduce the West vs. East and EU vs. Russia binaries.
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Keywords
Euromaidan, ATO zone, military sociology, gender, women
Citation
Martsenyuk Tamara. Sexuality and Revolution in Post-Soviet Ukraine: LGBT Rights and the Euromaidan Protests of 2013-2014 / Tamara Martsenyuk // Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society. - 2016. - № 2 (1). -P. 49-74.