A few days ago, an acquaintance of mine, Olena Shevchenko, from Time Magazine as one of twelve women of the year. Olena Shevchenko has campaigned for the rights of women and the LGBTQI community for years. At the beginning of the Ukraine war, she co-founded the non-governmental organization “Insight” and led the women’s march.
Olena Shevchenko, leader of the Ukrainian queer community and peace activist.
(Photo: Helen Angelova, Amnesty International)
“Insight” helps thousands of families who need humanitarian or psychological help or need new housing. The NGO not only takes care of the queer community and women, but also people with disabilities and war victims who have experienced sexualized violence. She also organizes the supply of medicines to Ukrainian soldiers.
Olena is now a leading figure in Ukraine. And I’m very proud to know her personally. I met her in Kiev a few days before the war began. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Oleksandra Matwijchuk had organized a gathering of civil society activists and a delegation from Great Britain. I thought how lucky we Ukrainians must be to have such principled and kind-hearted activists.
Olena has inspired me a lot as she fights for human rights and the rights of LGBTQI people. For me, your work is confirmation that my country is making giant strides towards real democracy and the values of the European Union. Thanks to people like Olena and the new generation of Ukrainians supporting her work, we are getting closer to the European idea.
While Russia bans queer life and punishes information about it, a Ukrainian woman who lives as a lesbian and is considered a role model in the scene is awarded Woman of the Year. For me, this is confirmation that we Ukrainians are on the right track.
Nevertheless, in contrast to Munich and the queer scene here in Ukraine, there is still a great lack of freedom and tolerance. But women like Olena Shevchenko also show in my country that the LGBTQI community is a non-negotiable part of society, also because this community is very active in helping the socially disadvantaged during the war.
Olena Shevchenko is not the only one changing the attitude of my people towards LGBTQI. A friend of mine, Viktor Pylypenko, has been the first openly gay soldier in the Ukrainian army since 2014. He has long since founded an LGBTQI group in the military and helped queer soldiers no longer have to hide. Now he is defending our country at the front.
On the one hand, I am very proud that so many Ukrainian activists that I know personally are getting recognition in the world. These are human rights activists like Olexandra Matviychuk, Olena Shevchenko and Viktor Pylypenko, but also many others. But what would human rights be worth if there were no way to defend them.
Emiliia Dieniezhna, 34, fled from Kiev to Pullach near Munich with her then four-year-old daughter Ewa. From there she works on a voluntary basis for the non-governmental organization NAKO, whose aim is to fight corruption in Ukraine. She also teaches German to Ukrainian refugee children. Once a week she writes a column for the SZ about her view from Munich on the events in her home country.