The Queer Faces of War
is a series of photos which depicts queer people of different ethnicities affected by war in Ukraine. Most of them are from Ukraine, some are from Russia and Belarus. Queer people and BAME people are two of the most vulnerable groups and when catastrophes happen, they become even more vulnerable and invisible. Queer Svit is a black female-led charity helping LGBTQ+ and global majority people affected by war.
We are “Queer Svit” (Ukrainian: “Queer World”). The founders of the initiative are a couple of Black Russian non-binary people, a Ukrainian transgender woman and a team of volunteers from all over the world. Our mission is to help as many LQBTQ+ people and BAME people as possible from Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Belarus, whose loves have been affected by the military conflict or the political and social consequences of the war.
Co- Founder’s remarks
'“I remember how we went to protest, but it seemed as if it was not enough. So, on March 4th, we decided to do something more and came up with an idea of setting up Queer Svit - we made up the name, started designing, I started reaching out to LGBTQ+ organisations. We made a decision because we have friends from all of these countries that suffered from the war and its consequences.
It is crucial for us to convey to people that transphobia, homophobia, biphobia, racism, sexism, etc. is not an opinion, but a violation of human rights, and no one should be subjected to them. If we, as an initiative, can help people to experience less discrimination, then we are making the world a little bit better.”
