Dramatic comparisons are being made with the toxic masculinity of Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the courage shown this weekend by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Putin, who is famously anti-LGBTQ has all but extinguished a gay presence in Russia. Queer News Tonight reported last week that the US wrote a report to the UN that a ‘kill list’ had been created against LGBTQ in Ukraine by the Russian invasion forces and this fact created international condemnation. Now that invasion has begun there is a secondary effect here in South Florida as one of the largest Russian communities in America called ‘Little Moscow’ exists and a substantial number of LGBTQ are among this Russian Speaking community. An estimated 200,000 speak Russian coming from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and live in South Florida with between 14 to 20,000 LGBTQ Russians living here. The affluent communities of Sunny Isles and Aventura are ground zero for the South Florida Russian community and there are reports on the US and European sanctions in banking, real estate and other restrictions now affecting the community. Leaders in the LGBTQ+ community in Ukraine have defiantly said they will ‘not be intimidated’ despite fears for their safety and the future of Ukraine. In response to the violence, OutRight Action International has started to accept financial donations to help queer people direly in need of support during the invasion. The organisation said that funding will be given to LGBTQ+ organisations in Ukraine that are preparing to receive queer people in search of shelter, safety and security. Outright said “Already, people are leaving Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and the eastern part of the country for, at the moment, safer rural areas and the western parts of the country, while neighboring EU countries are providing shelters for an influx of displaced people”. Lenny Emson, director of Kyiv Pride, urged people to provide international political support. Emson said “my task as an LGBTQI activist is to stay with my community and to help them to stay calm, to keep going and keep fighting. Some people are panicking, and some people are anxious. We cannot avoid it… but it’s how we manage this panic, how we manage this anxiety. This is what is important in my task as director of the biggest Pride organization in Ukraine.” Since the first days of the invasion, even with the large South Florida LGBTQ community and the large Russian speaking LGBTQ community, to date, there have been no organized protests or other programs of support
Shockwaves Through LGBTQ’s South Florida’s ‘Little Moscow’ Over Ukraine’s Invasion
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