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WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A BLACK QUEER REFUGEE IN UKRAINE
Ukraine has been a safe haven for many foreign nationals. But now what? By Adam Zivo Photo by Rostyslav Savchyn on Unsplash
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been terrifying for Ukrainians, with six million fleeing to other countries in Europe and around the world. But the story of foreign nationals – including students and people from other countries who were living in the country when Russia attacked – has been more complicated. International media reported that African residents who tried to escape the fighting were turned away at the borders and at train stations in Ukraine, although some racialized refugees have said that media reports of racism were overblown.
JULY / AUGUST 2022
Ukraine has been a safe haven for many foreign nationals. Some have stayed in the country because they do not want to return to the countries where they were born, and fear they may not be accepted in other countries. Others have decided to stay because they enjoy Ukrainian life, with some having married locals and started families in the country. Most foreigners have left as a result of the war – for example, over 85 per cent of Ukraine’s Indian nationals have been evacuated from the country. In cities where it was once commonplace to bump into Africans, few can now be spotted. The foreign nationals who remain are rare stragglers. Now imagine being LGBTQ+ while facing these challenges. I sat down to talk with two gay Nigerian men in Ukraine, John and Valentine. John is a soft-spoken, though talkative, introvert who keenly follows international politics and takes a calm and
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level-headed approach to political conflict. He prefers playing board games with his friends rather than going to local technoclubs. Valentine is similarly introverted – an easy-going giant of a man who often pauses before he speaks and is careful with his words. He is less political and prefers to focus on work, urged by a strong sense of duty to those around him. The two of them – one out from a young age, one not out at all – did not know each other until they were introduced during the research phase of this article (aka: we all grabbed drinks together), but their stories are nonetheless very similar. Both are in their late 20s and had come to Ukraine as students, and while they had initially been motivated to stay in Ukraine mostly because they did not want to return to Nigeria, over time they came to love the country. Both of them came from religious families where homosexuality was not accepted, and neither of them attended church anymore. To protect their privacy, Valentine asked that only his first name be used and John asked to use a pseudonym. Both requested that potentially identifying details about their professional and student lives be kept private. How Ukraine got an African diaspora Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine had a large international student population – local universities are very affordable and Ukrainian degrees can provide a gateway to jobs in the European Union. As a result, there were many Africans in Ukraine’s major cities. For that same reason, there were other minority communities,
