Writer, photographer, researcher specializing on gender, sexuality, the environment, and human rights in the US and around the globe.
Joined December 2010
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Stories are a tool for action — and international solidarity matters when queer people and democracy are under pressure worldwide.
In Ukraine, even after growing public support for partnership rights, conservative politicians are pushing to reverse that momentum.
Today, The Queer Face of War is published in the US, the UK, and worldwide.
As Russia’s full scale invasion enters its fourth year, the book documents how homophobia was weaponized during the invasion—and how queer Ukrainians fought back.
Available now: thequeerfaceofwar.com
I was saddened to learn of the death of Marlen Scandal shortly before The Queer Face of War was published. Marlen was a veteran, an activist in two revolutions, and a drag performer who carried Ukraine’s story across the world. 🕯️
We first met at a joint Pride march between Warsaw Pride and Kyiv Pride, where Marlen presided over the Ukrainian float like a guardian angel — radiant, fearless, larger than life.
Nazi Germany sent 15,000 queer men to concentration camps.
Not one told their story publicly until nearly 30 years after Hitler’s death.
Here’s why that silence — and one man’s decision to break it — matters for my book cover. 🧵
Opponents of queer rights know this too — that’s why they try to erase queer history from libraries and queer people from public life.
Visibility is a weapon of resistance.
📩 Subscribe to The Queer Face of War newsletter to read more stories like Oleksii’s — and to see how queer visibility continues to shape Ukraine’s fight for freedom. thequeerfaceofwar.com
