Four must-see films that explain the effect the Russian incursion has on LGBTQ people in Ukraine
Russian invasion of Ukraine making headlines around the world, we here at Queerty want to highlight one aspect of the attack not getting enough traction elsewhere in the media: the effect of the Russian incursion on the LGBTQ community of Ukraine.Related: That time Ukraine won Eurovision with a song decrying cultural genocide by a murderous dictatorAs many readers of this site will note, the Putin regime instituted oppressive policies against queer people in Russia several years ago.
LGBTQ people can lose their jobs, homes, or even disappear into the night as victims of torture, government raids, or mob violence.Related: Ukrainian LGBTQ activists captured a group of Russian soldiers hiding in a basementFor more insight into this growing humanitarian crisis, we’ve compiled a list of four films that explore the history, motives, and consequences of anti-LGBTQ bigotry in Russia, and help put the threat to the community in real-world terms.David France directed this documentary detailing the network of underground safe houses organized to help LGBTQ people escape the Russian state of Chechnya known as the “Rainbow Railroad”.
France and his subjects all risked their lives to make the film, and it shows. Welcome to Chechnya plays like a taut spy thriller with white-knuckle suspense.Streams on HBO Max.This Netflix film doesn’t deal with the current situation in Eastern Europe, though it does go into the long history of Russian oppression of queer people.
Set in the 1980s, Operation Hyacinth deals with Soviet-era mandates to identify, intimidate and purge LGBTQ people–specifically gay men–from Polish society.
