6 to 11 September, the annual pride event for LGBT community took place in four regions of the country at once – in Mykolaiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Kyiv.

“For seven years we held pride event for LGBT in Mykolaiv only, where the community from the whole Southern region of Ukraine has gathered. On the eighth anniversary, we decided to hold the Pride Maidan at the same time in all the cities where LIGA’s separate departments work – this is a remarkable challenge,” says Oleg Alyokhin, the chairperson of the organization. “But thanks to the enthusiasm and energy of the team and volunteers, as well as the strong support of the community, it became possible.”

Pride Maidan week commenced in Kherson, where the local department of LIGA awarded journalists with the “Rainbow Stripe” prize.  This prize honors those who write about discrimination and problems faced by LGBT people.  Then the baton was handed to Kyiv where the round table on transgender people’s health took place. Participating were members of such organizations such as T-ema (Kyiv), Insight (Kyiv), UUTP (Zaporizhia), UNDP and UNAIDS. The LGBT communities of Kherson and Odesa held the ‘I Am Not a Template’ public action during which the activists encouraged passersby to make sure that we all are different but equal. On Thursday, the community of Mykolaiv gathered for the Cultural LGBT Pride Maidan; the same day, the art-therapy seminar was held in Odesa. Anastasiia Danilevska, the founder of Spectrum IG (Kharkiv) led the group. The beach volleyball tournament took place in Mykolaiv on Friday for the Association’s cup.

We had to struggle to hold the Cultural LGBT Pride Maidan in Odesa. The owner of the yard, where the event was slated to happen, received many calls with threats “to burn all” and “to beat everyone,” and, therefore, he declined the space to the Pride Maidan’s organizers at the last moment. Association ‘LIGA’ had to abandon the already assembled stage, cancel the exhibitions and seminars and evacuate everyone who already came for the event. The activists tried to find another space for holding it, but they were rejected everywhere, until a solution was found: The Odesa Cultural LGBT Pride Maidan would take place on a boat under the rainbow flag and the flag of Amsterdam’s EuroPride 2016. People read poems, sang and danced.

The “For Human Rights” bike rally, which is annually organized by LIGA, became a part of Mykolaiv city’s bike parade this year. It was devoted to Mykolaiv’s City Day. We are pleased that the event organizers invited us to be a part of the city’s sport fest. The townspeople gladly welcomed the Pride Maidan’s team in T-shirts with the “FREE SOCIETY” slogan.

Unfortunately, the local authorities did not like the gift LIGA prepared for Mykolaiv on its birthday. LGBT Association ‘LIGA’ initiated renovation of the Equal Europe Monument. Someone had stolen the wreath from the statue – the symbol of the European Union. LIGA applied to the city council and initiated a money collection to restore the monument, but the local government did not give any reply on LIGA’s efforts, despite LIGA trying to contact them for two months.

This is not the first time: initiatives of the organization to help the city and decorate Europe’s Square are ignored and prohibited directly by the local authorities – plant trees, plant flowers, and so forth. That is why this year, we officially invited the city mayor for the mini-briefing right on Europe’s Square, with the presence of the local media to declare our intention publicly. But a day before the announcement of the reconstruction’s start it appeared that wreath was restored quietly and with no announcements. Thus, the idea of the LGBT community’s involvement has scared the local government into action.

Pride Maidan finished successfully. We believe that the homophobic incident in Odesa and absence of Mykolaiv’s government’s readiness for having a dialogue are temporary occurrences. And the day will come when the FREE SOCIETY _ FREE FROM FEAR, HATE, SUPERSTISIONS motto will become a reality in Ukraine.

We want to give our special thanks to Kostiantyn Ivatovysh from Dnipropetrovsk for presenting his book, ‘To Mars’ at all of the Cultural LGBT Pride Maidans; as well as the Qwerty Queer choir team from Odesa for taking part in the Cultural LGBT Pride Maidans and the inspiration they gave to LGBT community. Special thanks to our LGBT community in Ukraine for their bravery, not being indifferent, and their willingness to be free in their cities.

With best wishes,

Organizational committee of the Pride Maidan 2016

LGBT Association ‘LIGA’

For additional information, please write to liga.lgbt@gmail.com.